A/N: This short fic falls into a completely different AU than the previous two chapters. Apparently, the plot bunnies wanted to see Rogue and Gambit as college students, and they've been bugging me with this idea for months now. I have no idea where they're going to take this one. They never tell me anything.


How much faith should a person put in their best friend's matchmaking abilities?


CHAPTER 3

Matchmaking

"He's not an idiot, Rogue," Scott Summers contended, easily keeping pace with the young sophomore jogging next to him. "Okay, well, not a complete idiot…"

"Fo'get it, Scott. Ah ain't agreein' ta any more o' Jean's set-ups… datin' disasters — whatever we're callin' them this month." She tucked a loose strand of auburn hair behind her ear. "Not after th' last one with that guy, Wade, from her Economics class."

Behind his sunglasses, Scott cringed slightly. "Okay, even I have to admit that Wade is a bit much."

"You think?" Rogue asked sarcastically. "He takes me out ta dinner, right? Pretty nice place… good food. Th' waitress had just asked us if we wanted ta order anythin' else, an' without skippin' a beat, Wade says he'd like ta have her phone number — while still out on a date with me. Ah mean, come on! At least wait until she's served our dessert before makin' a move on her." Rogue focused her attention back on the jogging path that wound around the grounds of their college campus. "That guy was all sorts o' crazy. Ah tell ya, Summers, if yoah girlfriend wasn't mah best friend…" She let the sentence trail off.

"But she is your best friend, and you love her — and that apparently means letting her set you up on a few dates here and there." Rogue shot him an exasperated look, to which Scott reluctantly conceded, "Okay, more than a few dates…"

Rogue sighed loudly but didn't break her brisk stride down the exercise trail they were on. "Let me guess, this is th' latest installment o' We've-Got-ta-Get-Rogue-a-Steady-Boyfriend extravaganza, right?"

Scott nodded. "Edition number Eighty-Two, if I'm not mistaken. Look," he stopped jogging and forced Rogue to do the same, "Jean means the world to me, and I'd do anything for her. I back her up when she sets her mind on whatever current project she's focusing on. And at the moment, that's fixing you up. If it makes her happy, then why don't we just let her do it?"

"Because, Summers, fo' one thing, yoah not th' one who has ta go out on all th' crummy dates." Rogue groaned heavily. She shut her eyes and tilted her face toward the sky, wondering if patience could fall down like raindrops. "So, who does she have in mind this time?"

"Duncan Matthews."

Her eyes immediately snapped open and locked on to Scott. "Aw, hell no! Not th' Jockstrap Supreme. You tell Jeannie she better come up with someone a whole lot better than that." Rogue took a few steps backward down the path while still speaking to Scott. "An' this is the last blind date she gets ta set up fo' me. The last one, ya hear?" She abruptly turned and resumed her jog down the trail.

"And the list keeps getting shorter and shorter," Scott mumbled, as he started to walk off in the opposite direction.

~ oOo ~

"Anna, what do you think of this color?"

Rogue scowled at the cotton-candy hue of pink nail polish that Jean was holding up for her inspection.

"Ah think if you call me that name one more time, Ah'm gonna have ta make you eat that lovely color." She batted her eyelashes sweetly for added effect.

Jean was unperturbed. "Calm down, you Bride of Chucky. They're not going to put it on your nails. It's for me." She handed the small bottle to the nail technician in front of her. "Heaven knows we can't get anything but dark shades near you anyway."

"Ah like what Ah like an' you like what you like," Rogue concluded, admiring the deep purple of her manicure by fanning out the fingers on her left hand. "It's worked great fo' us so far. Why mess with a good thing?"

"Speaking of what you like, Scott said you vetoed three other guys this time. At the rate you're going, you'll be single right up until we graduate."

Rogue shrugged. "So? What's th' big deal? It's not like Ah'm actively lookin' or anythin'. Ah jus' roll with whatever happens ta come around, y'know?" She shot her best friend an exasperated look. "Jus' please stop tryin' ta set me up with people, okay? Ah can't take much more o' th' braindead an' th' borin'."

Arching an eyebrow, Jean threw back her own look of disgust. "Excuse me, but a lot of those guys you turned down are great guys." She began ticking their names off her free hand. "Warren Worthington, Johnny Storm, Bobby Drake — "

Rogue held up a hand to interrupt Jean. "Ah don' think Ah'm exactly Bobby's cup o' tea, though…"

Surprise slowly colored Jean's expression. "Bobby's gay? I did not know that. Hmm, we should set him up with Jean-Paul then."

"Oh mah Lord…" Rogue crumpled over in defeat. "Girl, you have got ta stop. Stop matchmakin'. Stop settin' people up. Jus' stop."

"I'll stop when you're with somebody already, and you can finally double-date with Scott and I, just like we planned back in kindergarten."

Rogue chuckled. "Jeannie, yoah kiddin' me, right? What did we know back then? We were five years old!"

"And wise beyond our years…!" The redhead smiled cheerfully at her friend, but then turned solemn a quick moment later. "Honestly though, Anna, I just want you to find someone who makes you happy."

"An' like Ah said, Jeannie, seriously," Rogue took the other woman's hand in hers and squeezed it affectionately, "stop calling me that name or else Ah'm gonna have ta hurt you real bad. Ah promise you Scott will never recover from th' trauma."

Jean drew her hand back sharply. "Oh, shut up, you!" she laughed.

The sound of the door chimes drew their attention to the front entrance of the nail studio.

"Well, speak o' th' devil," Rogue exclaimed, as Scott waltzed into the little shop. Wiggling her freshly done nails in his direction, she teased, "Fancy a li'l manicure, Summers? You can get th' same pretty pink shade as Jeannie, if you want."

"I'll pass, but thanks, Rogue." Scott leaned down to kiss Jean in greeting, lingering a touch longer than necessary. "Hi, beautiful. I was just in the neighborhood. Thought I'd stop by for a minute and check on you ladies."

"Ah think that's considered stalkin' in most states, sugah."

"We were just finishing up here, and then we were gonna grab some lunch," Jean cut in before her friend could add anything to her comment. "Care to join us?"

Shaking his head in regret, Scott explained, "I'd love to, but I have to pick up Remy from the airport in an hour."

"I didn't know Remy was coming to town."

"Yeah, it wasn't planned. He sounds like he needs to blow off some steam or something."

Rogue glanced at the couple and asked, "Who's Remy?"

"My friend from that camp I told you about before, the one down south."

"Th' one near New Orleans?"

"That's the one." Scott reached for Jean's hand and warmly secured it in his own, careful to avoid the newly applied polish. "Remy and I met there when we were kids, and we've been friends ever since." He scoffed slightly. "Though I don't really know why we still are. We're total opposites."

"You mean he's actu'lly human?" Rogue teased.

Scott chuckled. "Barely."

Jean suddenly straightened up in her chair, a brilliant smile shining on her face. "I have a great idea, Scott! Why don't Rogue and I go with you to the airport? Then we can all take Remy out for some lunch."

Narrowing her eyes, Rogue glared at the other woman suspiciously. "Yoah up ta somethin', Red," she accused.

"No, I'm not," Jean replied innocently, flashing her smile in Scott's direction. Holding his gaze, she silently willed him to agree to her plan.

Scott groaned, knowing full well that his girlfriend was indeed up to something. "She's got that look in her eyes again, Rogue…"

"Told ya we should've sent her on that solo Caribbean cruise last week. At least that would've given us a few weeks o' peace," the southerner grumbled, thanking her nail technician and standing up to leave.

"I have no idea what you two are talking about," Jean chirped happily, hooking arms with both of her companions and leading them toward the exit. "Anna, we need to stop by the apartment first and get you changed into something a little more eye-catching…"