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Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men characters. All rights belong to Marvel Entertainment and I am not making any money off this story.
If You Love Her Like That by BookwormDoll
Inspired by “If You Love Her” by Forest Blakk
I’d chosen a Queen size bed for just this reason…so on nights when Rogue had trouble sleeping and didn’t want to be alone, if she wanted to be on the other side of the bed, she could. Some nights she took that option…others, like tonight, she situated herself right against me and pulled my arms tight around her, careful that her long sleeves would stay at her wrist. I smile as she holds my hand (her hand gloved) tighter against her, her back pressed against my chest.
Rogue and I had been tasked with cleaning the Danger Room and it was getting boring in there. I pulled out my phone and turned on some pop music, her favorite. She immediately turned to me, smiling wide and eyes bright. Mon dieu, I loved that smile. Cleaning was soon forgotten when we started dancing instead. That is…’till the professor figured out.
I leave a note on Rogue’s door on her birthday morning:
Happy Birthday, Chère. Mon cœur et sa cœur, toujours. Don’t forget, ma colombe…you’re beautiful inside and out. If you’re tryin’ to be perfect, just stay the way you are.
Genosha, just before the Gala
So, this is how it ends. This is what all of our hard work amounts to. I sit in a chair, tossing playing cards into the fire as Rogue tries to justify dumping me for Magneto. It’s becoming harder and harder to hide my hurt…and anger.
“You never wanted to make t’ings official. I respected that. I played the Swamp Rat,” I turn to her, no longer hiding the bite in my tone.
“And Ah played your Chère. All the expectations, every time, lookin’ at you and seein’ all the things Ah couldn’t do.”
“You tellin’ Gambit the dang truth?!”
“Ah can’t touch you, Remy!” she pushes off the seat she’d been leaning on and makes her way to mine, eventually kneeling at my armrest, “Your heart may beat for me…but Ah cain’t feel it.”
Every word is like a punch to the gut.
“You light up everything you touch,” she continues, “but never me,” she lays her hand on top of mine.
I close my eyes, not even bothering to wipe the escaping tear away as I tell her, “Some t’ings be deeper than skin, Chère.”
“Not this.”
“I reckon that fool will break your heart in two.”
“Gambit always knows the odds. That it?”
“In this game he do. Until then, we be friends, mon ami,” I bring her hand gently up to my lips, kissing it once, “jus’ friends.”
I get up and leave before I change my mind…or say something I’ll regret. I roam the halls, not really sure where I’m going, just needing to move. I wasn’t expecting to find myself at Magneto’s room. I almost keep walking; then pause. I knock on the door, part of me hoping he’ll answer and another hoping he’s already gone.
The door opens and Magneto quickly hides the look of surprise when he sees my face, which I know is still tearstained.
“May I come in?” I ask, voice unwavering.
He nods and steps aside to let me in.
The room looks just like mine: balcony, two chairs in front of a fireplace, bed, mirror, and dresser. I don’t sit down. Honestly, I don’t really know exactly what I came for.
“What do you need?” Magneto asks me.
“You love her?” I don’t need to say who.
For a moment, he looks taken aback, but then he nods.
I try to hold back the tears as I look down, nodding my head slightly, “Guess I should have expected that.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but I hold up my hand to stop him, “Please, let me talk.”
He closes his mouth and waits.
“Take it,” I look up so our eyes meet, “if you’re the one she lets in, if she gives you her heart, then take it. But don’t—don’t you dare break it. Your arms should be a place she feels safe in. When she’s sad, run your hands through her hair…it…it calms her down. And when she doesn’t notice how beautiful she is, you tell her. Over and over so she’ll never forget. She…she has trouble fallin’ asleep sometimes. She likes to cuddle while under the sheets ‘cause…’cause she gets cold. Pop songs are her favorite. She loves to dance to them,” I give a small, wistful smile, “She loves love notes and likes giving gifts. She values her friends, her family. When it feels like the whole world is caving in, you stand right by her side. She’ll…she’ll love you if you love her like that.”
I can’t stop the tears as I tell him, “And above all else…you need to understand that she is the best—the best—thing that you’ll ever have. And if I find that you break her heart,” kinetic energy sparks at my fingertips, “’den you gonna have me to answer to.”
I stare at him, tears now free-falling down my face.
Magneto opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again, “I promise you, LeBeau, that I will cherish her heart…but I do not believe I am the one she’s given it to.”
I snort softly, “Not what she just told me.”
He starts to say something else, but I interrupt him, “I’ll see you at the Gala.”
I then walk out and find my way back to my room, Rogue was gone. I collapse into one of the seats and cry myself dry.
X-Mansion, now
‘I do not believe I am the one she’s given it to…
Still sitting in front of my door, I kept replaying that day on Genosha over and over again. Gosh, I sounded like a hypocrite, telling Magneto not to break Rogue’s heart and then turning around and doing it myself. I regret every word I said to her…but then why did it feel like a weight lifted off my shoulders? I was still hurt by how she acted, how she treated me…but did I really want to rip such a big hole in our shaky relationship?
And the biggest question nagging me: Was there even a chance to heal the relationship?