BENEATH THE SURFACE
Part Twenty-Nine
Rogue raised her head from her pillow; she'd been fast asleep when the door had opened and light had spilled into her dark room. Logan's voice was gruff and slightly alarming.
"He in here?"
Rogue swept her hair tiredly away from her face, "huh?"
"LeBeau...is he in here?"
"What are you talkin' about?" Rogue sat slowly up.
"He's not in his room, I've been all over this house."
Rogue tried to process this, still feeling sleepy, she felt slightly confused. What was Logan talking about?
"Look, if you're hiding him in here..." Logan switched on the light and moved to the bed, he crouched down to look under it, "just this once I won't go berserk," he frowned and stood, he looked around, he moved to the closet and yanked the door open, leaning inside to check between blouses and other items.
"He's not here..." Rogue finally managed, watching as her mentor moved to the window and pulled the curtains aside to check behind them, he leaned out of the open window, looking right, then left, then up and down as if to check if Remy had escaped through it.
"Rogue..." Logan warned.
"If he was here, you'd smell him..." she reminded.
Logan grunted, "You're right...I still hoped it was gonna be a mistake...an oversight..."
Rogue rubbed her eyes a little, "he's really not here?"
"I've been everywhere, went to do bed check, his room is empty, his bed hasn't even been slept in yet. And I smelled blood. There was a bloody towel on his floor..."
"He cut his arm accidentally," Rogue yawned, "Ah bandaged him up...he was fine when Ah left him."
"Well now he's gone."
"How long has he been gone?"
"I don't know...I just found out about ten minutes ago. I got Hank down in the War room checking out all the security footage, try and locate exactly when he just waltzed right out of here."
Suddenly feeling wide awake, Rogue threw the covers off and grabbed her jeans from the edge of the bed, pulling them on over her pyjama shorts, "We have to go out and find him."
"No...you should stay here. I'll go out-"
"That's my husband, Ah can't just sit back and wait," Rogue admonished. "God, the last time he upped and left..." she started, her voice trembled.
"He got wasted," Logan finished for her, he sighed.
Rogue stopped, staring at the floor, "Hecan't go through that again. Ah can't go through that again."
"Was there anythin' that happened today that would make him go nuts? Make him lose all senses and take off to get drunk?" Logan asked.
Rogue buttoned up her jeans quickly and grabbed the nearest hooded sweatshirt she could, she pulled it on and zipped it up swiftly, "no. He was fine. He was in a good mood...we talked about goin' to the Halloween dance together...about us maybe lettin' people see we were together...he was happy."
"You're sure?"
"Ah'm positive. He was making jokes...laughin'...he seemed so fine...Ah swear it."
"Then somethin' must have happened..." Logan paused, his expression dark.
"What?" Rogue asked, "what's with that look."
"Nothing. Look, you can't go out at this hour..." Logan sighed.
"Says who? Ah'm eighteen, and you can't stop me, that's my husband out there, Ah have to go look for him."
"What about school?"
"School?" she laughed, "It's Saturday tomorrow..." she pulled on her sneakers awkwardly hopping from foot to foot.
"Ugh, can't keep track of things these days," he muttered. "But still...I don't know about this... the Professor-"
"The Professor would agree," Rogue assured, "Remy is more likely to come back home if Ah'm there to talk to him. He gets pissed off with you sometimes, you know that."
"Fine, come along, but let me do the talking when we find him."
Remy stared darkly into the glass of Scotch. He'd been staring into it for the past forty minutes, just as he'd been staring into the last one that was sitting next to it. It was inviting, the amber liquid glistening a little in the low lighting of the Bayville Bar & Grill, the scent wasn't all that enticing, he'd asked for Glenfiddich but he was certain what they'd given him instead was some cheap imitation that had been poured into the Glenfiddich bottle.
The bar was quiet for a Friday night. He'd have expected it to be busy in this place, but there was barely five patrons. Sighing, Remy reached over to his plate of onion rings, which had gone horribly cold, and dipped one into the creamy white dip. He bit into it, another sigh escaping his lips.
"Y' gon' sit there and eat like a pussy, y' not gon' drink like a man?" demanded Jean-Luc, he was sitting at the other side of the booth, his face was so rotting now that there were no lips any more, just teeth bared. As the weeks had worn on, Jean-Luc had less and less hair coming from his ghostly head, and one eye had completely decayed to nothing, an empty pus-filled socket was all that remained.
Remy ignored him and chewed, he tried to think of how to handle things at home. He'd reacted so badly to the issue with Tabitha. He had never meant to get so angry...she'd simply made her move at the wrong time.
There was no right time though, Remy thought. I need t' tell her straight. Me and Rogue need t' tell her t' gether, need t' be honest, get it out of the way. Fuck, how am I supposed t' do that now? She's gon' come out wit' it about the kiss...and I know what Rogue's gon' say...she'll freak the fuck out like she did 'bout Belle.
"Why y' even care, why stick t' one woman?" snorted Jean-Luc.
"Like you did wit' Vivienne, y' mean?" Remy asked coldly, he said it under his breath so the passing waitress (who was probably nearly sixty) wouldn't hear him.
"I had others, y' think she didn' know."
"Didn' mean she were happy wit' it," Remy muttered coldly, he looked away. "Y' broke that woman's heart...she loved y' til the end, in spite o' everythin' y' did t' her. She mus' have loved y' t' let y' do those things t' her."
Jean-Luc sneered and looked away from him. "Maybe that was always y' own problem...y' let the idea of love dictate y' life f' y', let it shape y' and shackle y' t' y' doom."
Remy wasn't sure if he minded being shackled to his doom any more. If love was the outcome what did it matter? The more progress he seemed to be making with his relationship with Rogue, the less resentful he felt towards his doom of being stuck in the New Mutants and being at school.
"Remy..."
He winced, he'd hoped to have been back before anyone noticed he'd been gone, but hearing Rogue's voice at his left, he let out a quiet sigh.
"How y' find me?"
"Hank found security footage of you getting into a cab just outside the gate...you standin' waitin' for it. You'd called for it. We called the only cab company in town...they said you asked to be brought here. Not much of a mystery," said Logan.
"Oh great, 'course he gon' be here too," Jean-Luc chuckled, "wherever she go, right? Her shadow, her protector, her fuck buddy."
Remy swallowed back the bitterness he tasted in his mouth at the thought of that again.
"Is that what Ah think it is?" Rogue asked worriedly, reaching for the glass, but Logan smacked her hand away from it gently.
Logan took a seat opposite in the booth, and as he did so Jean-Luc seemed to immediately vanish. He grabbed the glass, "it's Scotch...watered down," he decided, he raised it to his nose, "Yeah, definitely watered down."
Remy gave a deep sigh, he didn't look up from the table.
"You said you wouldn't..." Rogue sounded deeply upset, she stood there, he saw her in his peripheral vision.
"He didn't..." Logan said, sounding quite surprised. "I'd smell it on his breath. He's not touched anythin' except cough drops and onion rings," Logan sniffed the glass again, "this has been sittin' for a while...and this one..." he picked up the glass and sniffed it, "even longer..."
"I didn' drink it," Remy replied quietly.
"Then why did you order it?"
"'Cause y' a pussy who never follows through," Jean-Luc hissed.
Straightening up, Remy sighed, "I didn' drink it, ain' that enough?"
"Rogue," said Logan, "can you go wait in the car for a few?"
"But-" Rogue tried.
"Please..." Logan said politely, although it was through gritted teeth all the same.
Rogue snorted in contempt at this, and she walked away, Remy heard the sound of the front door to the bar shutting loudly.
"Why y' have t' bring her wit' y'?"
"She insisted," Logan supposed, "and she was worried about you, kid...we both were."
"I don't need y' worry or y' pity," Remy retorted coolly.
"You need plenty of both," Logan decided, he lifted the glass to his lips and sipped it, "what is this shit?" he made a face.
"Supposed to be Glenfiddich."
"Tastes like bear piss."
"I'm not even gon' ask how y' know that," Remy uttered, he took another bite of his large onion ring.
"You ordered two drinks...they've both been sittin' for a while...what's goin' on?"
"I..." Remy began, he sighed, "I guess I wanted t' be able t' turn 'em down. I wanted t'...make a point t' myself that I coul' turn em down...turn down somethin' that's right in front o' me...that jus' 'cause it's there...it don' mean I have t' have it..."
Logan leaned back in the booth, his expression dark, "This ain't about the drink. It's about Tabitha, isn't it?"
Groaning, Remy dropped the onion ring, he swallowed what was in his mouth hard.
"I could smell her in your room, you know..." Logan admitted, "I can smell her on you..."
Remy looked away, he felt panic surging. Was this it? Was his relationship about to fall apart? Had Logan told Rogue?
"Rogue doesn't know," Logan admitted, Remy wondered if his expression of guilt had given it away.
"I didn' do nothin'...I never touched her...she jus'...she imposed herself on me..."
"And that's it?" Logan asked darkly.
"She kiss me...I didn' let it go further, I didn' kiss her back...I couldn'. I jus'...I got mad and I had t' leave...I couldn' stand all this stress any more, I had t' get out somewhere."
Logan snorted, "I believe you. I'd smell it on you if anything else happened, believe me...even if you showered, even if you'd changed those clothes. Sex has a pretty strong scent that lingers, seems to sink into the skin almost...I'd know if you went further with her," he assured. "But a kiss is just as bad...that's still somethin' that needs to be addressed."
"Don' y' think I know that?" Remy ran his hand across his shaved head, he sighed, "She knows I'm married...not t' Rogue but...she knows I love someone else but she so determined, think she knows what good for me, jus' like everyone in my life always has..." he sighed. "I wanted t' set her straight but...it's so complicated..."
"How?" Logan asked, he pushed the two drinks aside and he helped himself to a few onion rings.
"Tabitha...right now she's goin' through shit...she don' need t' be hurt."
"This shit she's goin' though..." Logan tapped his fingers idly on the table as he chewed, "is this to do with that scumbag father of hers?"
Remy winced, he couldn't say anything.
"I know he's been sniffing around again, looking for money from her...looking for her to use her powers to get him it," Logan remarked. "I get why you two are friends, you know. Your backgrounds aren't all that different."
"Y' don' even know the half of it, mon ami," said Remy, he was surprised that mon ami came out of his mouth at all. It was the first time he was certain he'd ever thought that way towards Logan and meant it. My friend. Was Logan really a friend? He was here, wasn't he? He was talking to him now.
"She's talked to you about it, hasn't she?" Logan asked, eyeing him for a moment.
"Even if she had..." Remy shook his head.
"Look, the truth is..." Logan began, he picked up another onion ring, "we know about things, about Tabitha."
"Y' do?" Remy asked unhappily.
"Just between you and me, Remy..." Logan said quietly, he leaned forward, "we knew from the get go. But unless certain things are said, there's nothing we can do. Her father's restraining order doesn't keep him out of Bayville, and we can't be with her every second to make sure he keeps his distance. I've turned him away from the mansion a dozen times...we've had him arrested a few times quietly when he's shown up. We've done our best to keep him from her, but sometimes he manages to slip past, find ways to make phone calls. We've blocked his number over thirty times but he gets these disposable phones...he always manages to get through."
Remy looked away, "it was me who had him jailed."
"We know," said Logan, "we read the police report."
"Y' did?"
"Yeah," Logan admitted, "and to be honest, I applaud it. I'd have done the same myself if it meant protectin' a friend. It shows how far you've come in thinkin' about others over yourself."
Remy wasn't so sure he was thinking of her. Maybe it was himself he was thinking of...maybe it was just a selfish wish of what he could have done to Jean-Luc while the bastard was alive.
"Look...Tabitha is going through a lot of stuff at the moment, and believe me, we're trying to help her too, just like we are with you..."
"She talked about the Prof wantin' her in therapy. Did she go?"
"You know I can't answer that," Logan admitted, "look, I don't want to see Tabitha hurt any more than you do. I also don't want to see Rogue hurt by all this either. She's in a good place right now other than the things you keep doing that have her out of her mind with worry," Logan explained. "I haven't seen her this content in a while..."
Remy raised his eyes to curiously look at the man, "content? What d' y' mean content..."
"She hasn't worked on her powers since she came back here, she hasn't worried about it, hasn't asked the Professor for help with it...she's...almost embracing it, she's not as uneasy about it any more as she was..."
These things had never become obvious to Remy, he'd never noticed in all their time together. He still noticed her anxiety when he touched her sometimes, he still noticed her worried expressions, but he'd never assumed that her life here would change from what it had been before.
"She doesn't hide in the corners any more, she's...participating with the others, she's more outspoken...she's more confident in the Danger Room and in the field," Logan admitted. "Whatever it is you two have...I know it's the reason."
Remy snorted a little in disbelief.
"I thought this was a phase with her...I got to admit it," Logan said, chewing another onion ring thoughtfully, "I thought it's a teenage romance, her first teenage romance, like...you know a lot of people would assume, this is her just...going for the first option...the only option..."
Remy frowned at this admission.
"And you..." Logan shook his head, "I thought...you just...you don't love her, you're just...telling yourself you're in love because you like the idea of being in love, of being taken care of and having someone that can't take the advantage..." he frowned a little, "but...so much has changed, and I've seen so much between you. Her attitude...yours...the way you've settled here, the way you've stuck it out when we put you in the New Mutants. I know you must find it humiliating, but you've tolerated it, and waited, you've worked hard. And you've gone to school...and according to your teachers you're doing okay on a few subjects...not great but at least you're doing something. I know you'd never make those efforts if not for her."
"So...what y' sayin'?" Remy asked.
"I'm saying that...my opinion has changed..." Logan confessed, "I see it now...all these things...the progress you've both made – despite all the little steps back – that this is somethin'. I don't like to throw the L word about, LeBeau, but I believe that's what this is."
Remy wasn't sure why this news made him feel slightly better, the realisation from someone suspicious like Logan. Perhaps it was just the thought that somehow, despite all the misery he'd brought Rogue, he had somehow made her life better in small ways. The thought brought a warm lump to his throat.
"Rogue is happy, hard as it is to believe. But...she's frustrated with you, that's a given, because you're keeping things from her..."
Staring down at the table, Remy sighed.
"I know things are tough, I know you went through shit, but you need to start telling her everything...the more you hold from her, the less she's going to trust you, the less she's going to understand you and the more you'll risk losing her and hurting her."
"I know that," Remy snapped, "but y' don' get how hard this is. I don' know how t' start wit' her...I don' know what t' say and every time I try t' tell her, every time I get the nerve somethin' stops me..."
Like Jean-Luc hangin' around, Remy thought miserably.
"Have you...ever thought about taking her to your therapy sessions with you...and having your shrink help you tell her about all this stuff?"
"No..." Remy shook her head, "I couldn'. I...don't want her knowin' about it."
"But she's your wife, like you said," Logan reminded.
"Y' don' need t' remind me."
"Then doesn't she deserve to know what's going on?"
"I can't put her through the worry," Remy stated calmly, "You know she will. Right now, school and the X-Men...everythin' is on top of her and she don' need my problems."
"You're underestimating her ability to cope," Logan assured, "she went halfway across the country for you and took care of you and your family through a crisis. You think she can't cope with hearing what happened?"
Remy sighed, "Look...I'll tell her, I swear. But...it's got t' be in my own time, when the time is right...not before..."
"So what now, then?"
"Now, I'm gonna go out there, and I'm gon' tell her I jus' felt a little overwhelmed with school and life...y' gon' vouch f' me that I didn' touch a drop, 'cause I didn'. I'll tell her that I'm sorry...and it didn' mean anythin'...I was jus' a lil' stupid, shoul' have gone t' her..."
Logan sighed, "You think she'll buy that? She's not stupid you know."
"She's just gon' have t' buy it until I can figure out a way t' tell her everythin'," Remy supposed.
"Like y' ever will," chortled Jean-Luc, Remy couldn't even see the bastard anywhere in the area, but he could smell that foul stench of him lingering nearby.
Rogue hated trying to be patient with Remy at times like this. After getting back home following Remy's secret excursion to the bar, she hadn't been able to get back to sleep, she felt nauseous with worry and frustration, it was too hard to sleep through it. When Saturday morning light finally seeped through her bedroom blinds, she was still wide awake.
Her neck was tense and going for an early shower didn't help to un-knot any of it even with the water pressure at its fullest. She tried to scrub away all the stress and worry of last night but it wasn't working, all she could think of was that Remy was about to go back to the same attitude he had in St. Tropez, he might not have taken a drink last night when it was right in front of him, but it was only a matter of time before he slipped now.
The boy had demons, and he had clearly thought about drinking them away last night. Whatever it was that had stopped him, it was unclear. Logan gave her no elaboration on the subject other than Remy's feeling overwhelmed by school and training and this had been a momentary lapse in judgement.
Rogue wasn't sure she particularly bought that excuse; being overwhelmed by school and training certainly might have contributed, but Rogue felt it was more to do with his past and his father's death that had left Remy with so much emotional damage.
She tried to push it out of her head as she got dressed but it was difficult to; she eyed last night's clothes lying on the floor and sighed silently. It was odd how even standing in that place had left those clothes smelling like cheap beer. She hadn't touched anything in that place and still it seemed to be on the shirt. Or maybe it was just her imagination...
Quietly she crept to Remy's room upstairs to check upon him; she opened the door to his room, feeling the slight chill in the air upon entering. He was sound asleep, curled up in the foetal position with his blankets almost over his head; he looked strangely childlike at that moment with his incredibly short hair and his dark eyelashes caressing his cheeks, his breathing was slow and even.
At least he's gettin' some sleep, she thought, quietly shutting the door and leaving him to his rest.
It was Rogue's turn to do breakfast; she gazed at her chore rota for that Saturday and sighed. Breakfast, and laundry folding – Tabitha was supposed to help her with both. Shuddering with a little anger, she ignored the girl's name completely. She'd do both alone – Tabitha was usually impossible to coax out of bed on a Saturday before eleven am, and even then, she sauntered about being very unhelpful.
And besides, Rogue still felt angry with her about yesterday's accusations. Better to just steer clear of each other for the time being.
Ah'll do it all myself, Rogue decided. She was suddenly glad of being up so early, as she could take her time with breakfast, there was no rush or the usual fluster the work of it usually brought her. Even with help, breakfast was usually chaotic and stressful, but with the extra time it didn't have to be this morning.
She took her time in making pancakes, using a recipe she found on her phone, and she was somewhat surprised they looked half decent as her usual attempt at pancakes always ended up looking burned or undercooked. She fried vast amounts of bacon (the top choice for Saturday morning usually) and sausages and scrambled eggs.
Kitty Pryde was the first to be up, she waltzed into the kitchen tiredly in her ridiculous bunny slippers, her blue pyjamas had penguins on them, which Rogue found to be even more ridiculous than the slippers. "You're up early," Kitty yawned, rubbing her left eye.
"Yeah," Rogue replied, deciding to withhold the truth about not having slept at all. "You want eggs or pancakes?" she asked, knowing Kitty's usual preference due to her vegetarianism.
"Eggs only. I'm keeping away from pancakes, too much sugar in the morning totally makes me hyper and then by about lunch time I'm on a major sugar withdrawal and barely have enough energy to stay awake let alone do anything constructive," Kitty replied, taking a seat at the head of the table, she pulled her feet up onto the seat with her and hugged her knees, "bit chilly in here."
"Yeah, the heatin' is on the blink Ah think. Remy's room was freezin'," Rogue replied absently as she spooned out scrambled eggs (that were mostly lukewarm now) onto a plate and brought them over to the petite brunette.
Kitty looked up at her suddenly, Rogue was confused about why until she realised the mistake she'd made. She shouldn't have been in Remy's room at all. "Why were you in Remy's room?"
"Ah wanted his ass to give me a hand," Rogue lied immediately; the fact she'd done all this alone made it look almost believable, "Tabitha is on the rota to help me but..."
"So...uhm...what's that got to do with anything?" Kitty raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well...you know what it's like tryin' to get her to actually help sometimes. And it'd have been been impossible to try and drag her out of bed this early on a Saturday."
Kitty snorted a little and looked away, "I see."
"What?"
"Nothing," she said, picking up a fork from the table and pushing them into the pile of scrambled eggs which Rogue was sure she'd slightly overcooked.
"No...what?"
"Forget it," Kitty shrugged and took a few bites from her plate.
"No, you got something to say to me, Kitty, better say it," Rogue frowned.
"It's just...it's like, totally so clearyou still have this thing against Tabitha...especially lately," Kitty shrugged. "And that thing yesterday, I mean that was really cold."
"What thing?" Rogue straightened up a little, "me and Tabitha have been totally civil to each other for like a week or so now. Ah've been nice as pie to her," Rogue assured.
"I'm not doubting you've been nice as pie," Kitty shot her a look, "but you were definitely a little underhanded with that stunt in the van."
"What stunt? What are you goin' on about?"
"Asking Remy to the Halloween dance!" Kitty said, "everyone knew that Tabitha was going to ask him out, she's been going on since the moment he got here about how much she liked him and stuff. There's no way you didn't know she had a thing for him."
Rogue said nothing; there was no way to deny something as blatant as Tabitha's obvious affection for the boy. "She never said anythin' to me."
"She didn't need to, Rogue, you've seen her with him, you've seen the way she acts around him, there's no way you didn't know about it."
"Believe it or not, but Ah have more important things to focus on in my life besides what Tabitha may or may not feel for Remy LeBeau."
Ah do have more important things, she reminded herself. So why am Ah always focusin' on Tabitha and Remy?
"Bullsh-," Kitty stopped herself short of saying shit, "Bull."
"Oh get off of it," Rogue rolled her eyes.
"You totally jumped right in front of her and asked him out before she even had the chance," Kitty accused. "That was like, so totally not cool."
"Look, she didn't ask him, she didn't even have a spare ticket to ask him to that dance anyway, Ah did."
"That's not the point. It was really cold and mean. And for that matter, what are you thinking? You already have a boyfriend, or so you said."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rogue gaped at her friend.
"I don't think there is a boyfriend or ever was. I think..." Kitty looked away, expression almost thoughtful, "I think that you made him up."
"Made him up?" Rogue almost laughed, it was so far from the truth.
"Yes, to make him jealous."
"Why would Ah want to make Remy LeBeau jealous?"
"Why do you keep saying his name like that?" Kitty blinked.
"Pardon?"
"Remy LeBeau, not Remy, not Gambit, and even the sound of your voice when you say it...god, you couldn't be more obvious if you tried."
"Obvious about what?"
"That you have totally got a thing for the guy. It's like Scott all over again."
"What's that meant to mean?"
"You...you mooned around Scott for the better part of a year while he was figuring out how to get close to Jean. Now you're doing the same with Remy."
"Even if Ah was," Rogue began, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice, "what business is it of yours...or of any ones..."
"It's my business that A: you totally went underhanded and tried to snag him right out from under Tabitha, and B: You're, like so gonna get your heart broken, because he's totally not into you the way he is Tabitha."
Rogue tried to compose herself, she folded her arms and straightened her posture a little, "oh? What makes you think that?" she raised an eyebrow.
"He was way too supportive of the idea of you having a boyfriend, I couldn't see his face from where I was in the back, but he was totally not jealous, not even for a second. You could hear it in his voice, he was as cool as a cucumber."
"Yeah, well, Remy is a good actor, what can Ah say?" Rogue remarked honestly, she looked away darkly. God, she's gonna feel so stupid when Ah tell her...
"And he likes Tabitha...probably more than likes. He bought her those clothes...you know where she got the money for those bras when we went on that shopping trip to the mall weeks ago, right? That was not from her grandma...I figured it out later because neither of her grandmother's are even living. Remy, like, gave her that money..."
Rogue's mouth dropped, she wanted to yell something about it but she couldn't find her voice now. Was that true? Had Remy gone behind her back again and given the girl more money despite their argument?
"Then he bought her all that makeup...I saw her coming home with the bag of it all, I tried to ask where she got the money but she clammed up...I know she can't afford Clinique, I mean come on, she can't even afford E.L.F crap...I mean I had to lend her a dollar to buy a lipstick from Baymart for crying out loud. A dollar lipstick! Now she has Clinique! Remy clearly bought her that stuff..."
"Okay, uhm...but he also bought-" Rogue tried, but Kitty had already continued going on, not giving her a chance to even interrupt.
"And then there's the kiss of course..."
"Kiss..." Rogue stopped, staring at Kitty blankly, "what...kiss?"
"Oh..." Kitty stopped herself, she looked away, eyes wide, "You know what, it's...nothing," she said nervously, "Never mind."
"No..." Rogue drew her breath, trying to calm herself. What kiss was this? There'd been a kiss? When? Where? Why had this happened and she had no idea of it? Inside, her thoughts were screaming why?! Her thoughts screamed at her that she should have known this was going to happen. "I want to know what kiss..."
"Look, it doesn't matter," Kitty shook her head, "I forgot I wasn't supposed to say..."
"No, you better say," Rogue leaned forward putting her hand on the table, "What kiss? When?"
Kitty's eyes dropped sheepishly to the eggs, her cheeks burning pink.
"Kitty!"
"Like, I don't know, way over a month or so ago maybe? Maybe two? Yeah, I think it was probably closer to two months...?"
"Just tell me!" Rogue snapped desperately.
"I was going to my room and he had walked Tab to her door...she kissed him goodnight, it was kind of sweet."
Rogue stared at Kitty, she couldn't believe this could have happened a months ago and Remy had never thought to mention it?
Ah knew it! Ah knew Ah couldn't trust him! Once a cheater, always a cheater, that's what everyone always says...God Ah'm stupid...
"He got kind of...I don't know...in my face about it, saying I better not tell..." Kitty's cheeks went a little red, "I thought he was going to bite my head off...he can be sort of aggressive, can't he?"
Rogue looked away, "unbelievable..." she muttered.
"Anyway..." Kitty said, "you see...? Tabitha and Remy have been an ongoing thing...for a long time now..."
"Clearly," Rogue stood up straight, she drew her breath, "he can take her to the dance, in fact, he can take her wherever he goddamn likes," Rogue took off towards the door.
"Rogue?" Kitty asked.
"Ah don't want to hear it, Kitty. Ah'm done. With both of them."
Remy was startled when something landed upon the bed; he'd been sleeping deeply and rather soundly, for once without any nightmares, and to be abruptly disturbed by being pelted with something was the last thing he'd expected right then.
He leaned up just to feel something small hit him in the head and he let out a slight gasp of surprise, "what the fuck-" he asked, his eyes falling to his pillow to see a small round eyeshadow container that had landed on the white pillowcase and had now dusted it with dark grey.
Something hit him in the family jewels, he let out a yelp as he looked down seeing the bottle of Chanel between his legs, he brushed it away and grabbed himself, "Rogue...what the fuck?!" he asked, gasping at her as he looked up at his wife, she was throwing things at him, everything he'd bought. His eyes fell to the floor beside his mattress, the blouses, the makeup, everything he'd bought her lay there. The underwear from Louisiana he'd bought her, the shoes, the dress for Jean-Luc's funeral.
What was going on? What had he done?
"Ah always knew you couldn't be trusted. Ever since you kissed Belladona, Ah knew it..." Rogue hissed, "And Ah gave you the benefit, you kept tellin' me there was nothin' between you and Tabitha! You swore it," Rogue yanked off her left glove and began awkwardly twisting her rings off.
"There's nothin' goin' on..." Remy rubbed his head groggily, "Jesus, chere..."
"Yeah?!" Rogue demanded, she threw both her rings at him, he felt them hit him in the face, "why the fuck did you let her kiss you?!"
"I...didn' let-"
"You didn't even tell me!" she screamed at him.
Remy gaped, how had she even found out about this? "Chere..."
"Ah gave you ample time to tell me! You could have said!"
"I jus' didn' know how t' tell you...I was clear wit' her, I swear! I tol' her I couldn' be wit' her, that it was a mistake!"
"And you didn't tell me!" Rogue shrieked. He'd never heard her voice go quite that high.
"I hadn't had time t' say it...that's why I walked out! She wouldn' leave my room! I didn' know how t' handle it so I walked out! I didn' know how t' tell you...when y' came t' the bar last night, Logan was there, I couldn' even explain it then..." he tried to explain feebly.
"Wait...what?" Rogue asked, "this was last night?!"
"Yeah...I...wait...what?"
"Last night?! You kissed her last night?!"
"No...she kissed me...chere, I swear I-"
"You kept it from me last night?! You kept the last few monthsfrom me and last night?! Oh my god...who the fuck are you?!" she looked away shaking her head, "God, Logan was right...you were always gonna break my heart..."
"No! I didn'-"
"You knew how Ah felt about her, Remy! Ah told you to stay away! But you can't help yourself, can you?! You'll never change! You'll always be skulking about with your secrets and lies, havin' these girls Ah'll never compare to! And you act like you never do anythin' wrong..."
"I didn't!"
"Ah was supposed to be able to trust you! You didn't even tell me the first time it happened and you let it happen again?!" Rogue demanded. "You wonder why Ah didn't tell them all about you?! God, it's just as well, ain' it?! Because Ah'd have had to go through the humiliation of bein' cheated on with someone who was supposed to be my friend!" she shook her head. "Ah put you with your bullshit mood swings, Ah put up with your depressive carry on, your drinkin', your violent temper, your distance and your disappearin' acts, your secrets, your holdin' out on me! Ah put up with tons of sleepless nights and constant stress about you! Ah gave up my virginity for you! Ah did things for you that Ah never would have for anyone else! But this?! THIS?! No...no, this is it, Ah can't do it any more!"
"But I don' even like her that way, Marie!"
"Don't call me that!" Rogue snapped. "And as for likin' her?! If you didn't like her you'd have told her about us. Did you tell her?! Did you tell her last night?!"
"No...I tol' y'...I got t' be careful...I..."
"You know what, Ah'm through, Remy! Ah'm done. Ah can't go through this any more!"
"Chere..."
"Ah said Ah'm through!"
He stared at her, the only thing he could find to say at that moment seemed to the the stupidest thing he could think of, "what...about Halloween?"
"Take the tickets, take her, it was gonna happen anyway whether Ah wanted it to or not!"
"I love you..." he tried to say as firmly as he could.
"You have a funny way of showing it," she snapped. "Don't talk to me, don't come near me and don't even talk to me in school," she turned, "Ah'm through with you, Ah'm done."
Remy felt lost and blank as he sat there on the mattress, watching his wife walk away. "But it was jus' a stupid kiss..." he tried to explain. She'd already left before he'd even finished the sentence. "Fuck..."
END OF PART TWENTY-NINE
Thought I'd throw up the weekend update as well while I'm lying in bed feeling godawful (kill me now). Hope you're all going to have a much better weekend than it seems I'm bound to.