About a week after Marie returned to New York, a box arrived at the mansion. When she had packed it up back in Mississippi, the intention had been to fill it with all of the things that would be irreplaceable if they got ruined while in storage, and then have Remy ship it to her. However, after opening the box, she had to wonder what she had been thinking.

Subconsciously, she must have known that she was going to break up with Bobby. He might not have ever noticed the wedding ring in her jewelry box, but the yearbooks, photo albums, and shoebox of old letters from Remy would have been much harder to hide. Eventually, Bobby would have stumbled across something, and then Marie would have had to explain.

It hurt too much to unpack the items, so she shoved the box into her closet and waited for a time when the pain wasn't still so raw.

Three months later, the box remained untouched.

Marie didn't hear from Remy every day, but they texted each other frequently enough that he never strayed from her thoughts for long. He mostly gave her updates about the bar and its resident ghost, who was apparently named Gaston, and in turn, she told him about her students and how training was going.

As much as she wanted to hear his voice, she never called him. Texts made it much easier to keep their conversations impersonal, and she could pretend that Remy was someone who was just a friend. Maybe he felt the same way, because he never called her either.

If it had been a few days, and neither had any updates to share, one of them would send the other a name. They ranged from the completely reasonable, to the absolutely silly.

James Tiberius? he'd sent one evening.

Why don't we just name him Spock?

...Could we?

No. No Star Trek names.

I'm going to have to make a new list now.

Which would invariably remind Marie of how much she missed Remy.

It was to the point where she looked up flights to New Orleans on pretty much a weekly basis. More than that if she felt especially lonely. Each time, she could almost convince herself that she'd go through with buying a ticket. But then she always found a reason not to.

Instead, she tried to be content with having him in her life in this new way. If that was all she could ever have, it would have to be enough.

She had texted him the name Wilbur that morning because she knew it would make him smile.

As much as I love your grandfather, not for a first name, he'd replied, but hadn't sent her a counter-proposal yet.

Marie had just carried her laundry into her suite when her phone buzzed. She dug her phone out of her pocket while she closed the door with her foot. She expected the message to be from Remy, but it was from Jubilee. Before she had a chance to read it, the phone rang. Also Jubilee. Which could only mean one thing—it was urgent.

"What happened? Who's injured?" Marie asked, dropping the laundry basket down onto the floor. A thousand terrible images raced through her mind.

"Does Remy have a motorcycle?"

For the love of all that was good and holy... "You called to ask me that? I thought there was an emergency!"

"There might be! There's a guy out front on a motorcycle, and I'm pretty sure he looks like the one in the photo you showed me, only he's wearing sunglasses, so it's hard to tell."

Damn it, why didn't she have a window facing the front lawn? Marie kicked off her slippers, shoved her feet into some shoes, and rushed out the door. "Do not go out there. Do you hear me, Jubes? Just leave him alone and let me—"

"Too late!"

Marie broke into a sprint down the hallway.

She stopped running as she approached the front door, took several deep breaths, then adjusted her hair and clothing. There, she didn't look like she'd just run the race of her life. Nope, she was simply on her way to greet an old friend.

Jubilee was already talking to Remy when Marie stepped outside. He had taken the sunglasses off and hung them on the collar of his t-shirt.

"—my picture?" Remy was asking.

"And told me all about you," Jubilee replied.

Remy's eyes flicked up at Marie, and he smiled, filling her with warmth.

"Not everything," Marie said.

"Yeah, she forgot to mention that you're way hotter in person."

Marie buried her face in her hand. Knowing Remy, he would be eating it up.

"Ah, petite, did she mention dat I tell fortunes, me?"

Annnd the accent had come out.

"No," Jubilee said eagerly.

Remy pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket and did some kind of flourish while telling a story about the history of cards and what some of them meant. Then, he spread the deck and told Jubilee to point to a card. She did, and he extracted a card from the deck. Another flourish, and he showed it to her.

"Two of hearts. A card for lovers. You're lookin' for dat certain someone, no?"

"Yes!" Then she turned to Marie and mouthed 'oh my god'. "Uh, well, he's all yours, Rogue."

She waited until Jubilee was back inside to walk over to Remy. "Hey, sugar."

Inside her emotions were all over the place. What was he doing in New York? Had he missed her as much as she had missed him? He must have in order to have come all that way for a visit. Would he notice that she wasn't wearing her engagement ring? Would it even change anything if he did? Maybe not, but at least if he knew that she wasn't getting married then the ball would be in his court.

"Hi," he said. It didn't look like he knew what to say next.

"So, what brings you this far north?" she asked in what she hoped was a casual tone.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, uh, I was on a job."

Her enthusiasm deflated.

"But I thought 'Hey, as long as I'm in the area, I should stop by and see how Marie's doing'."

She perked up again. "I'm doing all right. You?"

"Me? I'm good. Keepin' busy. You know." He unbuckled the saddle bag on his bike. "Actually, I have something for you."

Marie couldn't imagine what on earth he had for her, unless she'd forgotten something when she'd packed up.

He reached into the bag and pulled out a large envelope, then opened it and extracted a check.

There was no name on it, but the amount was for a modest sum. "What—?"

"It's your half from the sale of the house. It went quick."

She once again mourned their little house, but hoped the people who bought it enjoyed it.

"I sold it to a nice young family," he said, as if reading her mind. "They weren't the highest offer, but they looked like they needed it more."

"You're too sweet, Remy."

"Much to Jean-Luc's eternal dismay." He pointed at the check and said apologetically, "I wasn't sure what name to put there, so you'll have to fill it in. Or sign it over to a charity if you don't want it."

"Thank you."

"No problem. Like I said, it was on my way."

It sounded a bit like he was making an excuse to stop by. He could've easily, and more so even, mailed the check to her. But maybe he actually did want to see her and felt that he needed an excuse? "Do you want a tour? I can show you around. Or, if you're hungry, we could grab an early dinner?"

"Naw, I can't stay."

"Oh." Marie was on a roller-coaster of emotions.

"Yeah, so, before I go..." His face went serious, and then he handed over the big envelope. "I also wanted to give you this."

Puzzled, she opened the envelope and pulled out the papers that were inside. They looked official. Maybe she had to sign something to finalize the sale of the house? She didn't think her name had ever been on the deed. But then she read the words at the top, and the rest of the page fell out of focus as her heart sank. "Divorce papers," she said, voice hollow.

Remy didn't want to get back together, and he hadn't stopped by just to tell her how much he missed her. He wanted to cut one of the last remaining ties that bound them together. Thank God she hadn't told him about breaking up with Bobby.

"They were a long time coming," he said. "We should have had them drawn up ages ago."

There was a time when she'd had those exact same thoughts. But that didn't make it hurt any less. "Yeah, we should have," she echoed.

"This way your new marriage will be legal."

"Yeah." She couldn't cry in front of him, so she plastered a smile on her face. "Thank you. You could've mailed them."

"I know, I just...well, anyway. I signed my half, now you just need to sign yours. I even addressed the envelope and put postage on. All you have to do is seal it up and drop it in the mail. The lawyer will take care of the rest."

"Convenient." She didn't know what else to say because she could feel herself breaking inside. The fact that he was so calm and unaffected only cemented how wrong she had been about how he felt. Remy was good at playing characters and charming people. He had just been her moral support by going to the funeral and everything, like she'd asked. He had played the exact role that she had needed.

And she had thought it was real.

"It was fun while it lasted," he said. "And we made some good memories, didn't we?"

"We did." More than the sad ones.

He looked up at the mansion behind her. "I should probably go before Wolverine finds out I'm here, right?"

She laughed, because it seemed like something that was expected, though it sounded like someone else's voice when she heard it. "Yeah, you definitely don't want him to catch you here."

Remy got on his bike and started it. "I guess I'll probably see you around sometime if you're down visiting your grandparents."

"Probably. Maybe I'll stop by the bar for a drink."

"Meet the ghost?"

"Yeah." She gave him a weak smile. "Try to stay out of trouble."

"No promises."

"Good bye, Remy."

"Au revoir, Marie."

And then he was gone.

She didn't even cry. Marie was so deep in the depths of despair that it was beyond her ability to conjure up tears. She wished that she had Kitty's powers and that she could just sink into the ground and let it swallow her up. But she didn't, so she turned around and went inside. What else could she do?

All she wanted was to get back to her room, collapse on the couch and then not move for about a week. Of course, nothing could be as simple as that, and Jubilee was waiting for her. She tagged along as Marie headed back to her room.

"So?" Jubilee prompted.

"'So'?"

"So, did you two lovebirds rekindle the flames?"

"No."

"Why not?" Jubilee seemed offended.

"Because this isn't a movie and we're not 'lovebirds' anymore. He's moved on, and so have I." Marie walked past her and opened her door. She didn't even attempt to close it behind her. It wouldn't have stopped Jubilee anyway.

"Have you?" she asked skeptically.

"Well, he has."

Jubilee pouted. "Oh, does he have a girlfriend or something?"

"No." At least she didn't think so. But it had been three months. Oh, god, maybe he did.

"Then how do you know? Did he say that he had moved on?"

She knew what Jubilee was trying to get at, but her friend didn't understand. "He never even hinted at getting back together while I was in Mississippi. Never told me not to go, or that he wished I could stay...or any of that." She tossed the envelope somewhere in the vicinity of the coffee table, not caring one iota where it landed.

"Did he know about Bobby?"

Marie flopped down on the couch and put her arm over her eyes. "Yes."

"Well then, duh, no wonder he didn't say anything."

"That wouldn't have stopped him. Not if he—" What? Loved her as much as she loved him? "He came here so that he could drop off divorce papers."

"Oh."

"Exactly."

"Wait, did you tell him that the wedding was off?"

"I didn't have a chance."

"Rogue!"

Marie sat up because she didn't think that Jubilee was going to get the hint and leave. "What?" she asked tiredly.

"This guy hangs onto a house, and your stuff, for years, just on the off chance that you'd come back, and when you do, he finds out that you're engaged. Then he drove all the way up here—"

"Because of work."

"—to personally drop off papers that he could have mailed. He obviously wanted to see you again. But he probably thinks you're happy with Bobby, and that giving you a divorce was the best thing that he could do. He set you free!"

"I don't want to be free, I want him!" Marie put her hand over her mouth and froze. She didn't want a divorce, she didn't want to marry Bobby. She wanted what she had with Remy. What they could have had. Should have had. "I just want Remy."

"Then you need to tell him that."

But doubt crept in. How would it even work? Would he leave the Guild and his business to join the X-men? Would she leave the X-men and move to New Orleans? "I don't know..."

Jubilee knelt in front of her and put her hands on Marie's knees. "Okay, so let's do that thing that you taught me, and talk through different scenarios. What's the worst that could happen if you tell him that you're single and still in love with him?"

That thing that she had taught Jubilee, that Remy had originally taught her. It usually helped though, so Marie made her mouth move.

"He'd reject me because he's not in love with me, and I'd make a fool out of myself. Then we'd never speak again."

"So, kind of like what you had been doing."

Except that they were friends now, and if she lost that last little connection to him...

But Jubilee wasn't done. "And what could happen if he feels the same as you, and you don't tell him?"

"We'd miss out on getting a second chance."

"And you'll both be miserable for the rest of your lives."

She could maybe see Jubilee's point.