This is a pretty big chapter, so it's going to be in two parts for now. I wanted to get it all done and posted at once, but I also wanted to get it posted really soon so I could try to follow the actual calendar for this year, which matches that of the story.
Today is Thursday, December 22 (or at least it will be in 30 minutes), and this chapter of the story takes place on the same date.

PLEASE let me know what you think. I'm a big fan of editing and revision, even after a story has posted, and I want to know if the events and details of this chapter are okay or if they need something… more.

Happy Holidays! Hope to post again ASAP.

Love and Light,

Wiccamage

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X

Rogue opened the door to her bedroom with a soft sigh. Meditating was supposed to be relaxing and rejuvenating, but her hour long session with Ororo had left her feeling exhausted. She had been working on calming and quieting the psyches in her mind, but also on trying to root out the cause of her mental lapse a few weeks ago.

Neither Jean nor the Professor dared to enter her mind yet, and had effectively blocked her out of their own minds. She was essentially on telepathic lockdown until they could figure out if it was safe. And, unfortunately, she had to figure that out on her own.

As she walked into her room, she noticed a tall, black, rectangular box sitting in the middle of her bed. There was a large red bow on top and nothing else, not even a note this time. Rogue furrowed her brow, but bit her lip in an anticipation. She wasn't sure how this secret admirer kept dodging the many occupants of the mansion to sneak things into her room, and she wasn't sure if she was irritated or impressed. If Kitty wasn't so obsessed with figuring out who Rogue's secret admirer was, the Southerner would guess that her phasing friend had to be in on it.

Pulling at the top of the box, she found that it unfolded easily to display three different sections. The top section had two individual boxes that pulled to each side, and the bottom section included a pull out drawer.

Inside the bottom pull out drawer were several long, thin tubes. Picking up a red-tinted one, Rogue read the label. It was from a company called Lipsense, and the color was Fly Girl. It was a much brighter red than she would likely ever wear, and was a little disappointed. Her secret admirer had seemed to know her so well up until now. Replacing the red tube, she reached for another.

The next color was again very reddish-pink and not something she could imagine wearing, and the following was a bit more toned down, which she was pleased by. Still, she didn't know if she would ever wear it.

With a disappointed sigh, she picked up the last three tubes at once. This time, she smiled a bit. While the first two colors of this batch were still tinted red, they had a distinctly dark purple undertone, the last was such a dark reddish purple it almost matched her normal shade.

She put the three tubes with the others and inspected the rest of the black makeup case. The middle section was empty, she presumed for her own existing makeup. Rogue was pleased to find eyeshadows in the top drawers, however - most of which in colors she would actually use.

There was one with a deep purple hue, and another in a lighter purple. There was also a dark green; a dark, nearly orange, but sparkly brown; and one that was such a dark red it appeared almost brownish-black. There was also a plain black with a small sticky note attached that said "also good for eyeliner."

Rogue replaced the eyeshadows back in the case and placed the whole lot on her dresser next to the German Cuckoo clock from Kurt. Turning to her dresser, Rogue quickly slipped out of her mediation clothes - black yoga pants and a simple grey sweatshirt - and put on her black pants with the holes in the knee, her black undershirt, and her purple top. Finally, she slipped on her new pair of silk gloves with the ribbed finger tips. Those were going to be VERY useful today at the library.

Rogue cringed as a loud thump came from down the hall followed by boys yelling at each other. The noise level upstairs was nearly unbearable as all the other students packed their bags and prepared to leave for winter vacation tomorrow morning.

The sound of glass breaking and Jubilee screaming obscenities at Bobby was the last motivation she needed to get the heck out of there. Flinging her backpack onto her shoulder, Rogue quickly reached for the handle of the door. Before she could open it, however, Kitty phased through both the door and Rogue herself, ending up in the middle of the room holding Rogue's backpack.

"Um, knock knock?" Kitty said sheepishly as she turned around to face her former roommate. "Where are you going?" the valley girl questioned as she returned Rogue's bag.

"Public library," Rogue replied quickly, cringing as she heard more thumping and screeching.

"Oh, um, I've already packed and I thought we could go over what you're going to wear tonight." The small brunette shifted her weight as Rogue put her backpack on again.

"I've already got it hangin' up there on the bathroom door," Rogue sighed. She held onto her backpack on the off chance that Kitty MIGHT lose interest and move along.

No such luck.

"You like totally cannot wear this with that dress! It'll ruin it!" Kitty came running out of the bathroom holding Rogue's everyday black sheer cover and her regular combat style boots.

Rogue sighed and put her backpack on the ground. This was going to turn into one long, arduous conversation

X~X~X~

In the end, Kitty and Rogue had ended up in a much bigger argument than Rogue initially predicted. After many "helpful" suggestions from the preppy younger girl: borrowing Kitty's pink sweater - too small; wearing Rogue's new green half sweater from the secret admirer - it clashed with her purple makeup and didn't work with the wrap around waist; borrowing Jean's purple sweater - Jean had already packed it up; they had finally come to an agreement.

Kitty and Rogue had finally compromised on Rogue wearing her current off the shoulder purple cover with the new gloves and new boots, when Kitty discovered the newest gift from the secret admirer. That revelation had led to an entirely new and different argument about how Rogue could wear such and such eyeshadow with this and that top and lipstick, and how Rogue should really branch out with her makeup choices, and how the Southerner should just let Kitty give her a makeover for the event.

The whole thing had snowballed from there and Rogue had left her room 45 minutes later, slamming the door behind her.

Finally at the library, it was now noon and Rogue realized that she only had four hours to get all her tasks completed before she had to leave for the dinner party. Which she frankly wasn't sure she wanted to go to. In fact, that had been the last thing she'd suggested to her perky friend as she slammed her own bedroom door behind her.

She sighed as her guilt snuck up on her again, but at least this time it didn't come with a haunting voice inside her head. She couldn't NOT go to the party, but she would look silly no matter what she wore. Unless of course she just went with her tried and true "gothic party outfit." Technically, she hadn't removed the tags from the new little black dress, so she could still take it back and get the money refunded to Kitty. Sighing again, Rogue resolved that this was indeed the best resolution, and slowly made her way to the microfiche lab.

Three and a half hours later, Rogue finally had all the notes she needed for her Journalism paper on the history of Bayville and the surrounding area. She'd also researched and pulled information for her other paper for English on past and present slang and it's perception in society. It had actually been very interesting comparing excerpts from current news articles versus those of 20, 50, 70, and even 100 years ago, and she felt that she had a solid foundation for the direction of her assignments.

Looking at her watch, Rogue sighed again in defeat. She still hadn't found or pulled any of the other books she needed for her history or french assignments, nor did she have the comprehensive books for her Physics project that Scott had recommended. Plus, she wanted the cliff notes for several books that she had to read by the end of January.

There were only a handful of book reports, two research papers, a science project, an "article" on winter vacation, and the finals left in the semester and she was home free. She didn't really have to worry about French class or Journalism because she was doing so well, plus she had study hall for one class, and an easy elective on finance. Her worst and hardest subjects were easily history and math, and she'd failed both of them last year.

Since Rogue had missed so much school last year, plus much of the summer school she'd been scheduled to take, Principal Kelly's last act as the head of Bayville High had been to hold her back an extra year. Thankfully, she had enough credits that she could feasibly graduate at the end of January if she was able to finish everything on time.

Needless to say, she wasn't going to procrastinate on ANYTHING after her week-long coma. No one knew if or when that ticking time bomb would implode again, and she didn't want to have to finish the year with all the younger students, or worse, get held back AGAIN and end up dropping out to get a GED instead.

So, she was going to make the most of the two weeks she had (mostly) to herself, and get as many of her last few assignments done before the end of the term on January 27th. As such, she knew that if she wanted to get all the materials she needed for her projects and papers, she was going to have to stay a bit later. Which meant she would probably miss the dinner tonight.

Rogue bit her lip. Did she really want to disappoint her friends, her brother, and the Professor? She felt horrible about the prospect of letting them down, but she was terrified of not graduating and really, really wanted to get everything done so she could just coast for the next month. Besides, the mansion would NEVER be as quiet as it was going to be over the winter break, and the public library was going to be closed for the duration of that time, save two days next week.

So the Southerner sighed, again, as she made her decision. The phone call with the Professor was short, but aside from asking her if she was sure, and if she had a way home, he didn't say much about her request that the group "not wait up" if she wasn't home by 5:00.

Heading for the endless stacks of books - Bayville had quite the large library for such a small town - she got started. After a while, she got so lost in pulling and skimming the books that she completely lost track of time.

She was so engrossed in her reading, in fact, that she nearly jumped out of her skin when someone touched her covered arm gently. Rogue jumped sideways, four books on the Principles of Physics and the details of World War Two in Europe falling to the floor with a deafening thump.

Everyone in the library - which was ironically crowded for the first day of Winter Break - turned to stare at Rogue, and she blushed furiously as she dropped to gather her books and compose herself before facing the person who had touched her.

As she reached for one of her books, a large, strong hand adorned in black gloves with the fingers missing reached for the same. Rogue's eyes came up to meet Gambit's and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Alright, now ah KNOW y'r stalkin' me," she said quietly, even though her nervous heart fluttered. She could never be too cautious around this sneak thief; no one ever knew what his intentions were. Although, he was wearing an everyday red cable knit sweater and black denim pants, so there was at least a chance he wasn't 'working'...

Remy chuckled low and picked up the last three of Rogue's books. "Naw, but I did come here intentionally f'r you," he replied. His head tilted a bit to the side as he smiled mischievously, and Rogue hugged her book on The Practical Application of Physics tightly to her chest.

"And why might that be?" She asked, her eyes narrowed.

Remy laughed again and went to the table with Rogue's coat and other books. With one hand, he motioned for her to sit. "No business, cherie, Remy promise. 'S purely f'r pleasure. Just had t' talk t' you." He sat down across the table and placed her books down with the rest. Then he picked up a couple of her "Cliff Notes Version" books and skimmed them.

"Pride 'n Prejudice, Moby Dick, Hound of the Baskervilles, Bleak House…" he whistled as he flipped through them. "You a fan of d' classics, eh cherie?"

Rogue shrugged her shoulders and finally sat down, snatching the library books away from him as she did so. "It's just for mah English Lit class. Readin' one, writin' mah final on the others."

Remy kicked his feet up onto an adjacent chair and rocked back, but he looked interested. "Oh yeah? What's the thesis?"

The southern girl regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "Just comparing the writing styles of the classical authors to their time periods, deciding if their political views were similar, and trying t' find evidence that they may have influenced each other." She smiled again when Remy looked surprised.

"'Dat's mighty impressive."

She smiled lightly.

"But Gambit t'inks it's obvious Jane Austin and Charles Dickens have nothin' in common. After all, she died around de time Dickens was born, and Austin's completely focused on all dose girly t'ings like marriage and love, and upbringin'. Dickens is about d' problems wit' society and bringin' de plight of de poor t' light."

Rogue balked. First, she was impressed that he even knew the author's NAMES let alone their respective literary angles. Second, well…

"Excuse me!?" She finally retorted angrily. "Jane Austin is not 'completely focused on girly things! Sure she spends more time talking about the social construct of her time period from a woman's perspective, but Liz's character is completely against the entire rhetoric of marrying for money."

"Oh please, chere, spare me!"

By the time the two were done arguing, they'd been shushed by the other patrons at least three times, threatened with ejection by the head librarian once, and managed to wrench the personal opinions from two unsuspecting volunteers. But, they had at least come to the consensus that each person had a point - even if they didn't entirely agree with said point.

And, more importantly to Rogue, she had some GREAT points to add to her paper. Her and Remy's little 'tete-a-tete' had practically handed her an A on a silver platter.

Finally, Rogue sighed and looked at her watched. She cringed and rubbed her face with her hands.

"Well, it's official. Kitty's gonna kill me." she said, suddenly deflated. She quickly gathered her books and headed to the front desk.

"Pourquois?" Remy asked as he helped gather up the heavy textbooks and walked with her to the front.

"Well, because it takes 45 minutes to get home by bus, and everyone's leaving at 5." She handed her library card over to the exasperated worker at the desk. The poor woman looked almost relieved to see that Rogue and Remy were leaving. Until Remy smiled and winked at her, that is.

"An' what time is it now?" He asked, his attention still on the middle aged blonde with the horn-rimmed glasses.

"4:58," she huffed, grabbing her books from the counter and stuffing most of them into her backpack before heading out the door.

As she pushed open the door and headed down the stairs outside, Remy quickly caught up to her. "It's only 15 minutes by car," he interjected, nodding his head at a fancy red sports car parked in front of the building. "Can't ya call 'em and tell 'em t' wait a few?"

Rogue shook her head, "Ah'd never make it anyhow. Ah still have t' shower and do mah hair, makeup…"

The Cajun smoothly opened the passenger door, and took Rogue's hand, guiding her inside. He was in the driver's seat before Rogue could finish buckling her seatbelt, and she gave him a pointed look until he did the same.

Starting the engine with a little more gas than necessary, Remy gave her a once over. "Don't look like ya need d' shower t' moi, but you girls are finicky 'bout dat stuff. Make it a fast one, brush y'r hair out but don' blow dry it, just do d' basics f'r makeup - none of dat contouring and blendin' crap - and Remy'll bet he can get y' dere before dey even order their entrees." He smirked again and accentuated his point by swerving dangerously between two cars and gunning it to barely make it through the next light as it turned red.

Rogue looked over her shoulder as one of the drivers honked loudly. "No doubt. The real question is if you can get me there in one piece."

He chuckled. It was deep and guttural, and full of mirth.

Rogue's stomach fluttered again. He really was taking those curves a little too fast. And now that she was thinking about it, why in the sam hell did she even get in the car with him in the first place?!

She looked out the window, questioning her sanity. "'Sides," she sighed, bringing herself back to the conversation, "Ain't like ah got anything t' wear."

Remy looked confused as he maneuvered slickly around a large semi-truck, using the opposite lane - full of oncoming traffic - to pass it.

"What about dat tres belle dress y' got from Kitty?" He asked, keeping his attention on the road while looking over at Rogue.

She relaxed a bit in her seat, noticing that he had slowed down significantly and was driving a bit less recklessly after that last maneuver had made her physically cringe. "Don't get me wrong, it's great an' all, but ah couldn't find a thing to go with it that would look nice and keep me covered. Ah'll probably just wear the same thing ah always do."

"Dere's a box under y'r seat. Go on an' open it." Remy kept his eyes completely on the road this time, never once looking her way as she leaned down and felt around under her chair.

After a moment, she pulled out a long, slender black box with a red ribbon. Remy still refused to look her way, and Rogue got the distinct impression that he was suddenly nervous. She smiled, even while staring at him quizzically.

"'S for you. It's de least I could do after dat stunt I pulled last year. Never did apologize - or thank you - f'r dat properly.

Hesitantly, Rogue took the offered token and pulled the lid off slowly. Nestled inside the delicate silver tissue paper was a pair of long, opera style black gloves. She quietly pulled off the ones she was wearing and felt the soft silk. It was thicker than the ones she had received from her secret admirer, but they were still incredibly soft.

Pulling the black gloves from the box, she was shocked to see another pair in purple right below them, and under those a pair in dark green.

"Wasn't sure what color you'd like, so Remy tried t' match d' outfits he seen y' in."

Rogue blushed slightly. "They're perfect. Thank you." She smiled bashfully as she caught the almost nervous look on his face.

X~X~X

Twenty minutes later Rogue emerged from her shower with a towel wrapped around her. The mansion was totally deserted for the first time since she couldn't even remember, and the strange silence was almost eerie.

Rubbing a towel through her hair, the Southerner padded over to her window to check on Remy's car. He had agreed to park outside the grounds and stay at the gates so he could be seen at all times. Rogue had been nervous about asking him to wait outside, and was relieved when he'd offered before she could say anything.

She sighed with relief to find the Cajun still leaning against the gates and staying out of trouble. God knew she'd never hear the end of it if he stole something. She could only wonder how the others would react when she showed up with the former Acolyte at the dinner.

Rogue quickly put on the new dress from Kitty and Kurt and even stopped in front of the mirror a minute to admire the way it hugged her curves in all the right places. Coupled with the black suede boots, the outfit was actually quite stunning. She couldn't quite get the very top of the zipper pulled up all the way, but Rogue figured she could ask someone for help once she got to the dinner. Maybe Kitty would do it if she let her friend borrow a glove…

She applied her makeup in record time, opting for the cover up and an all purpose base as Remy had suggested. Then she quickly grabbed her coat, dark purple lipstick, gloss, and the purple and black eye shadows, and headed out.

X~X~X

Opening the gates of the property, Rogue waited at the front porch for Remy to pull his car up to her. She normally wouldn't worry about hoofing it such a short distance, but the driveway was still wet and muddy from their training exercise the other day, and she didn't want to get her boots filthy before she even got to the restaurant.

The flashy red sports car slowed as it approached, but Rogue knew the former Acolyte was just itching to let it loose on the freeway. A car like that wasn't meant to be driven at "suggested speeds." Either way, she was grateful he was driving cautiously for the moment and not splashing her with any mud.

Remy threw the car in park and quickly jumped out, bounding up the short flight of stairs to take Rogue's hand. He whistled loudly as he took in the outfit. "Don't you look fine," he stated appreciatively as he sidled up alongside her and held out his elbow.

Rogue had opted for the green gloves to go with the black dress and black boots, as well as the emerald necklace and earring set she'd received from her secret admirer. She carried her usual brown trench coat on her left arm and held a simple black clutch in the same hand.

She blushed slightly at his compliment, and took his offered arm. The heels on these boots were a mite taller than she was accustomed to, and she'd already almost killed herself coming down the main stairs inside. If it hadn't been for quick reflexes and a nearby handrail…

"So, you didn't steal anything while ah was busy?" Rogue teased as Remy led her to the car and opened her door.

"Cross m' heart," he smiled, using his free hand to put an 'X' over his chest. Once Rogue was inside, he gently shut the door and slid across the hood to the driver's door, waggling his eyebrows at the X-Man as he climbed inside.

"So," Rogue sidestepped his obvious attempt to show off, "if you weren't plannin' on stealing anything, why did you even offer t' give me a ride? Ah mean, what's in it for you?"

She pulled down the visor on her passenger side and started applying her eyeshadow while Remy buckled up and revved the engine. She didn't love the idea of putting on makeup in front of him - or anyone for that matter - because it was just so … girly. But, she had to make up some time if she hoped to join her party for dessert at least. It was almost 5:30 already and her party would probably be arriving at the restaurant shortly.

"Well, dat's simple chere," Remy replied as he peeled out of the driveway, spraying mud and snow across the lawn. He turned his head toward her and raked his eyes up and down her body, grinning.

"Remy gets t' see you in dat dress."

X~X~X

Thirty minutes later, Rogue was trying not to let her nerves get the best of her as Remy again darted through three lanes of busy highway traffic to pull ahead of another pack of vehicles. They were nearly at their destination already - a trip that usually took around an hour. If traffic had been good, the rest of Xavier's would just be arriving.

With the way Remy had been driving, there was a chance Rogue might even make it there before her group!

"How is it that we ain't seen one cop?!" Rogue shifted in her seat and held tight to the 'oh sh- handle' above the car door as Remy suddenly braked hard for a slow moving sedan. "You're going a hundred miles an hour!"

Remy glared at the elderly driver of the white four-door car as sped around it. "93 t' be exact - and, Gambit called in a few favors." He dared take his eyes from the road for a milisecond to wink at Rogue, who shifted anxiously again.

"You uh, you got connections t' the highway patrol?" Rogue asked, never taking her eyes off the rapidly approaching traffic. Thankfully, most people who saw them coming up fast were smart enough to just move over a lane, but there were some who refused to let the speedy red car pass.

"Highway Patrol, New York P.D., etcetera, etcetera…" Remy scowled as another pickup truck with massive wheels tried to block him from passing.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Shoulda known."

"Told ya y'd get there in time, non?" He smiled at her as he darted around the oversized truck and flashed the belligerent male driver a choice finger.

"This just ain't exactly the type of vehicle ah expected you t' be travelin' in, s' all." Remy practically flew to the exit ramp, cutting off four lanes of traffic as he left the freeway. She cringed again as another car honked at them, and sighed with relief as they came to a stop light at long last.

And she thought driving with Kitty was stressful!

"What, you rather take the train?" Remy asked playfully, winking at her once again.

Rogue balked as she quickly applied a layer of lipstick - not something she'd dare to try before with his erratic driving. "No - thank you - ah know how YOU travel in trains - ah just thought you had a motorcycle?"

With one arm over the top of the steering wheel, Remy grinned widely as he regarded her. "So you fancy d' motorcycles, eh cherie? Gambit'll have t' remember dat."

Rogue shook her head and tried not to smile at his flirtatious antics. "Ah do appreciate a good bike, but that's not what ah was gettin' at…"

Remy turned his attention back to the road as the light turned green again. "Ah, I see. You wann know where Gambit got d' car, or if it's stolen, n'est pas?"

Rogue stared him down even though he did not glance her way.

"Well?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, what?" he replied intentionally.

"WELL, where'd you get the car?"

Remy chuckled. "Let's just say I borrowed it from a friend," he stated at last.

Rogue raised an eyebrow at him and folded her arms. "Y'r unbelievable. You better get this car back pronto, and in one piece."

The Cajun crossed his finger over his chest again. "Scout's honor," he promised, pulling up to the Daniel restaurant where her group was having dinner. It was miraculously only ten after six, and there was actually a good chance they hadn't even ordered yet.

"Well, dis is y'r stop," Remy motioned as he pulled up to the elegant white brick building with several topiaries and planters lining the walk. A valet came up to Remy's door, but the southerner politely waved him off as the concierge opened Rogue's door and held out a white gloved hand.

Rogue paused a moment, turning to Remy. "Do you… do you wanna join us? Ah mean, you went to the trouble of drivin' me all the way out here and callin' in favors an' everything. You could at least come eat with us."

Remy smiled kindly and took Rogue's left hand, placing a quick kiss on the back of her glove. "Dat's a mighty tempting offer, chere, but Gambit's actually got business in d' area t' attend to. You go join y'r friends. I'll see you around Rogue."

Rogue smiled as she finally took the doorman's hand and exited the vehicle with her coat and clutch in tow. Just before he shut the door of the sports car, however, Rogue leaned back down.

"Hey Remy?"

The Cajun leaned down and over so he could see Rogue better. "Oui?"

"Thank you. Really."

"Avec plaisir mon coeur." He tipped an imaginary hat to Rogue and she gently shut the door, sliding her coat over her shoulders as she watched him drive away.

X~X~X~X~X~X