To Umbra, Yuuka-Hanamaya, & FoxyYaoi: Thank you for the support! I'm glad you're enjoying it and hope that this next chapter meets your expectations.

Author's Note: It's a shorter chapter than normal. But it didn't seem right to a) not update and b) to tack something onto the end that didn't quite flow. Hope you all enjoy!

FYI:
I do not own the X-Men or 'Billy S." by Skye Sweetnam.

Chapter 3: Billy Shakespeare or Tennessee Williams, the Sentiment's Still the Same.

Rogue had managed to get through homeroom with her head down and without attracting too much attention to herself. So far, so good. She was hoping that most of the students still at Bayville High wouldn't remember or have heard that it was her in particular who'd disrupted last year's graduation ceremony. But she was fairly certain that her luck couldn't last forever.

She slipped into a desk in the back row of her first period class and stared out the window at the bright morning that looked impossibly green and glowing with promise for the day still to come. It was a stark difference to her spirits at the moment. Even though the professor had been anything but mad at her, it still hadn't entirely softened the blow of this morning's training or her anger towards Jean. She wondered what little Miss Perfect would think if she found out that the professor didn't seem to give two shits about the morning's interruption.

"Class, please settle down. I'd like to introduce you to a new student, Remy Lebeau." Rogue's head snapped around at the last two words uttered by her drama teacher and she groaned to see that Remy was standing in the front of her class. Even with sunglasses on, she could tell that he was staring directly at her...either that or the empty desk two feet to her right.

He smirked before striding through the class as eyes and heads followed his graceful movements. He paused by Rogue's desk and smiled down at her. "Dis be nice, non? At least une class t'get'er."

"Peachy keen," Rogue responded resting her chin in her hand as she looked up at him. "Ya gonna stand there all period or are ya gonna sit down?" she asked and watched as he finally sat down still sporting a broad smirk. As much as she loved him, she wasn't particularly anxious to find out first hand how his antics would translate into school.

"Mr. LeBeau, would you kindly remove your sunglasses while indoors?" Ms. Maxwell asked, a smile beaming as she waited patiently for Remy to do as she'd asked. "I'm sure you know that the eyes are the window to the soul and this being drama class, I'd very much like to see yours."

Remy hesitated for a moment and then smirked as inspiration came to him. "Dat be hard t' do, Madmoiselle. Remy be settin' next t' a belle fille so radiant dat he need his glasses."

"Amusing," Ms. Maxwell said in irony as she made a motion towards her own eyes to indicate that her expectations had not changed.

Remy sighed glancing at Rogue and simply mouthed 'Je suis désolé' before removing his glasses. He blinked before gazing straight up at their teacher and she sucked in her breath for a moment before clearing her throat and quickly turned to face the chalk board. The rest of the class did not react half as well though as immediately there was a dull roar of whispering voices. "Well, dat lasted long," Remy sighed as he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head.

Rogue just fully buried her face into her hands as she heard her name start to pop up in the whispers as their classmates tried to figure out why the handsome, yet creepy-eyed boy would have any interest in 'skunk girl'.

Despite the noise, the teacher began to pass out scripts, dropping them on each desk and thus creating silence one solid thump at a time. "We're going to be covering a 'Streetcar Named Desire'. Does anyone know anything about this famous play?" she asked once it was quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop.

"STELLLLLLLAAAAAA!" There was a roar of snickers as one of the boys in the middle of the classroom made ostentatious bows and their teacher gazed heavenward praying for strength and patience.

"Yes, that is possibly the most famous line from the play as it was performed by Marlon Brando for the film version. I will tell you all now that it is normally not so endearing when performed on stage. I'm sure most of you don't realize that this pivotal line is delivered by an alcoholic and abusive husband who has just knocked his wife around to the point where she as run away to the neighbor's." There was silence again as their teacher walked up to the front of the room. "Anyone else have any sparkling intellect they'd like to share?"

Remy raised his hand and Rogue blinked in surprise as she turned to look at him. There was none of his usual swagger, just calm, polite attention being given to the teacher. Ms. Maxwell nodded in his direction and Remy lowered his hand again. "De play take place in N'Orleans where d' playwright, Tennessee Williams, spent a great deal of time. 'S a social commentary on de plight of femmes in de early part of de century at de hands of de hommes in deir lives as illustrated by Blanche et Stella sufferin' at de hands of Stanley. It also comments on de fall of an aristocratic famille in a society where dere's a stark difference an' struggle b'tween de rich an' de poor."

The class was stunned into a stupor as they all stared at Remy. Some of them were just trying to sort out what he'd said in his thick accent while others, including Ms. Maxwell were amazed by the depth of his answer. "That's correct, Mr. Lebeau." She seemed to collect her thoughts after a beat and cleared her throat. "We'll be reading the play in class over the course of the next week and will then begin casting and putting it into production for the halfway point of this semester."

The bell rang and Rogue was hesitant to stand back up as she was still staring at Remy in surprise that he actually did, every once in a while, know how to behave himself. "Y' comin', Chere?" Remy had picked up both of their bags and grinned at her in his usual cock manner in such a way that Rogue was already beginning to forget what a serious expression had looked like on his face.

"What was that?" she asked as they exited into the hallway.

"What was what?" he echoed as he returned her backpack to her, helping her slip it on.

"In there. All of that stuff ya knew. Ah thought ya didn' get ta go ta school b'fore."

"Remy didn'. Didn' mean Remy didn' read on his own. Y' t'ink dat Remy did not'in' but t'ievin' all day long?"

"No, Ah thought ya spent the rest of yo' day chasin' skirts," Rogue replied and Remy pouted. "Ah know, Ah know, Ah wound ya real bad," she said rolling her eyes and Remy grinned a little despite himself. "Where's yo' next class?"

"Remy got mat' next. Probably not gonna go nearly so well as drama," he sighed before leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. "A bientot, Chere."

Rogue didn't see him again until lunchtime when he found her sitting outside under a tree reading from her copy of the script from drama class. He eased himself down to sit next to her and pulled a flask from his bag before taking a swig. She shot him the evil eye over the top of her script and shook her head. "Y' want some, Chere? Sweet tea."

"Seriously?" she asked lowering the script down into her lap.

"Oui. What y' think it was?" he asked, amusement dripping from his voice.

Rogue just shook her head again as she reached for the flask herself and took a small sip to taste it before taking a longer drink. "Why the hell do ya have it in a flask?" she asked handing it back to him.

"Was a gift from mon frère," he replied with a shrug. "It fit better'n a t'ermos an' not so bête," he joked returning it to his bag before easily wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her close. "Allait-il comment votre jour?"

"Fine," she sighed. "Borin' mostly. Same ol' borin' teachers givin' slightly different borin' lectures."

"Remy be glad t' add more excitement," he offered waggling his eyebrows and she playfully pushed him back.

"Ah warned ya. Ya can' do that stuff here. Ev'ryone knows they shouldn' touch meh. You go an' start touchin' meh all the time an' not end up in a coma an' they'll stop bein' so careful. Ah'll end up with a bunch of dumb thoughts in mah head that Ah don' want at all."

"Ma thoughts still in y' head?" he asked gazing down at her and gently brushed back the strands of hair that fell into her face with the gentle breeze that was sweeping past.

She shook her head. "Ah've got it ta the point now where Ah only have the psyches fo' a brief bit of time after Ah absorb someone. As soon as Ah can focus, they get locked up in some back corner of mah head."

"Y' locked Remy up?" he asked in mock hurt. "Non, y' shouldn' do dat, Chere. Remy could be real helpful."

"Ah'm sure," she replied with an eyeroll. "He'd probably annoy meh all day with tryin' ta convince meh ta steal stuff an' dirty thoughts that would succeed in doin' nothin' but bein' a distraction."

"Non, he'd jus' tell y' what Remy would tell y' anyway. 'Vous êtes beau.' 'J'taime.' 'Je ne veux jamais vous permettez de vais.' Jus' t'ings like dat," he said grinning down at her before stealing a kiss successfully before she coudl fight him. Rogue just sighed before leaning into his chest and let him hold her more tightly. "So if dis is all borin' t' y', what y' gonna do when it all be over?"

"Ah don' know," she admitted, shifting so that her head fit in against his shoulder as she looked across the lawn thoughtfully. "Ah don' really think college is fo' meh. Ah might jus' stay here with the X-Men. Ah don' really have family anywhere else. Ev'ryone Ah love is here." She looked up at him and he smiled back down at her. "What 'bout you?"

"Well, Remy be in dis f' y' in de first place, Chere. What y' t'ink?"

She blushed in response and he smirked as he pulled her back in so that her head was against his chest and she could easily hear the thumping of his heart. "What 'bout yo' family?" she asked after a few moments. "Yo' brother?"

"Brothers," he corrected her. "Remy has deux." She tilted her head back to look at him and he sighed. "Dey tol' Remy t' leave, Chere. Remy can't go back t' N'Orleans without permission. Dey tend t' not like it when y' kill a member of de Guilds," he said with a weak shrug. She gave him a pitying look as she remembered him telling her why he'd had to leave New Orleans which had eventually led to him joining Magneto's Acolytes. While mention of anything related to Bella Donna did not rank high on her list of discussion topics with Remy, she felt bad that it had been such a destructive force on his life. No one should have to leave their family and never get a chance to go back.

"Well, Ah guess ya can stay here with meh too," she said smirking. Remy's expression brightened immediately as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

The warning bell for the end of the lunch period rang and Rogue sat up stuffing the script back into her backpack before standing back up. Remy followed suit and together they walked back into the school. Rogue headed to her locker in order to unload some of her excessive books that she didn't need and Remy leaned casually up against the wall watching as she spun the lock. It released and she pulled the door open and let out a small gasp of surprise to find a single red rose inside. "H-How did ya..."

"Master t'ief, Chere," Remy joked as she reached up and lifted the rose down to sniff it's fragrance. Tied to the rose by a green ribbon was a silver band.

She slowly untied the ribbon, allowing the ring to fall into the palm of her gloved hand as she studied it up close. It was decorated with a repeating pattern of the four playing card symbols and she smiled up at him. "Thank ya. Ah really like it. Ah jus' wish it didn' have ta be covered up all the time."

Remy reached into his pocket and then held up his hand to allow a long silver chain to dangle. "In de meantime, y' can wear it on dis. But someday, y' gonna get control. Remy know it," he said confidently as he took the ring and slipped it onto the chain before motioning for her to spin around. She obliged him and held up her hair as he hooked the chain around her neck. The ring fell just above her neckline and she smiled as she fingered it for a moment before turning to smile at him. "Y' best get goin' or y' gonna make Remy late f' class. Y' don' want moi in detention already, do y'?" He bent down and kissed her quickly on the lips before turning and giving her a small wave of his hand as he disappeared into the mob of students rushing from lunch to class.

Rogue wasn't entirely surprised when she walked into her last class for the day and found Remy to already be sitting near the back of the room, his long legs stretched out in front of him. It was advanced French conversation after all. His smile broadened when he saw her standing in the doorway and he playfully patted the desk next to his as she walked towards him. "Bonjour, ma cheri."

"Bonjour," she sighed a little less enthusiastically. She had only taken this class because it seemed like a better option than taking another science or something she cared even less about. She always managed to scrape together good grades, but she didn't feel like she was grasping the language fully and was afraid that this year, French would be a lot more than reiterating vocabulary back at the teacher. "Ah can't believe the professor is lettin' ya take this as a class. He's always pushin' us ta challenge ourselves."

Remy just shrugged. "Petey be takin' Russian. Guess de professor figures we need eased int' school more'n de rest of y'."

Rogue just snorted. "Yeah right. Ah've seen ya shmoozin' yo' teachers. You'll have better grades'n meh."

"Den Remy be y' professeur, non?" he offered as their teacher began to hand out textbooks. "How could y' fail wit' ma help?"

Rogue was forced to smile as she nodded her head and accepted his offer before their professor began class. Rogue's good mood was quickly ended by finding out that the entire course would be conducted in nothing but French. English was to be left behind in the hallway. She was so glad it was the last class of the day because she wanted nothing more than to get out.