Tears in the Rain (X-Men ROMY)

Chapter Nine

Her stance relaxed a little and she stood back so that he could enter the room.

"Did you book a room?" she asked, closing the door behind him.

"I tried, but they informed me that my wife had already booked our room."

Rogue was embarrassed. "Don't say one word, swamp rat!" She points her finger at him. "I was put on the spot, okay, and your name was the first that came to mind."

"Is that so?" Remy smiled.

"I don't know Logan's last name, okay? And I could hardly give my own."

He nodded, trying to hide his mirth. "You know, if you want some false ID, all you have to do is ask."

"Yeah, and you'd stick me with a name like Crystal Ball or something."

"Nah, you look more like a Candy Kane to me, or maybe with those streaks, Candy Striper."

Despite herself, Rogue laughed. "Thanks, I needed that."

"What are friends for," he asked. "Now, come on, if I'm sharing your room, that means that dinner's on me. Pick the fanciest place this town's got."

"Oh, real southern food!" she said with a smile. "Finally I get some real food."

"Hey, I take offence to that comment!"

"Okay," she grinned. "Finally I get some real food that's not cooked by you."

"That's better," he said. "Now come on, chère, show me your town."

They had a lovely evening, driving by all the old haunts where Rogue used to hang out with her friends, revisiting her school (with a little help from Remy's lock picking skills) and rounding off the evening with a lovely meal at the Julip Grill.

"Thank you," Rogue said once they were back in their hotel room. "After how badly things ended, I guess I forgot that I spent 16 happy years here. Well, mostly happy."

"My pleasure, chère." he smiled. "So I guess it's only gentlemanly if I offer to take the floor, non?"

Rogue didn't smile at the quip but stepped closer to him, until there was only a hair's breadth between them.

"I'd rather you shared the bed," she said softly.

Remy tried his hardest to hold onto his resolve but he just couldn't. Between seeing Rogue genuinely happy this evening as she recounted parts of her life to him, then the wine and the conversation over dinner, not to mention how grown up Rogue had looked over these last few months, he had lost the will to fight. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

While their clothes were being divested, Remy's better half tried a few more times to put a halt to things but he never got any further than "Rogue," before she was kissing him again, silencing his protests.

He took things very slowly, well aware that this was probably her first time. For all the phone numbers she came back from town with, she never saw those boys for very long and he couldn't see her being the one night stand kind of girl. He was right and while some pain was inevitable, he did his best to compensate with two earth shattering orgasms. Her words, not his, which did wonders for his ego.

As she lay in his arms afterwards, he decided that he couldn't send her away now, because that would be a sure fire way to break her heart, and he had vowed never to do that. He only had one option left, and that was to make sure that Rogue never found out the truth.

They sat in the car for a long while the next day, watching the house they were about to approach. Remy didn't push, in fact he didn't do anything but hold her hand.