Watching her deal with it all after Logan left wasn’t easy. I knew she was having a hard time, so did everyone else. She had lost more of herself to him than someone usually did. Even more than I lost to Jean. But that was Rogue, never doing anything half way. However, one night I just couldn’t let her pain go any further.

I knocked on her door, but didn’t wait for an answer before I asked, “Rogue, are you ok?” It took her a few minutes before she came to the door, her cheeks tear-stained.

“Yeah Scott. I’m fine.”

“Can I come in?”

“Sure,” she said opening the door a little wider. I waited for her to close the door before I said anything.

“Are you sure? Cause ya know I’ve heard you crying almost every time I’ve walked by your door. And everyone is worried about you too.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” she paused and I was just about to ask something else before she started again, sitting on the bed. “It’s just, with everything that’s happened I really haven’t had a chance to really talk to anybody.”

“I know the feeling,” I said sitting beside her.

“Oh yeah? I would’ve thought that everybody would want to talk to you, to ask ya how you’re doing,” she said her accent flowing more freely than ever.

“You’d think so, but they only want to talk about how much they miss her.”

She turned towards me, pulling one of her knees up. Neither of said anything for a few minutes, and I thought about whether it would be right or wrong to lean over and kiss her. Not on the lips, just on the cheek. But I don’t have the chance because she does it first.

“Thanks Scott. I know it doesn’t seem like you’ve done a lot, but I promise, you helped.”

“Anytime,” I said, standing up. “You need to talk some more, just let me know.” I walked out the door, wondering what in the hell just almost happened.

---

Rogue and I started meeting more often, just talking about everything. Jean and Logan at first, for a few weeks, then just whatever happened to be going on, that went on for a few months; and then one day, about six months after I went into her room that night, Rogue asked me a question.

“Hey Scott?”

“Yeah?”

“You ever think about anybody else? I mean, like you thought about Jean?”

“Yeah.” Neither of us said anything for a moment. I was trying to think of a way to tell her that she was the only other person I had ever thought about like that.

“Is it hard? I mean you lose someone that you’ve loved for so long, and still love, and then all these other feelings start pouring into the mix as well, and it just makes it so hard,” she paused, to catch her breath.

“Yeah, it’s hard Rogue. And at times I think sometimes it would be better to just put my heart on a shelf for a while, but then I realize that Jean wouldn’t want me to do that. She would want me to be happy. And I’m pretty sure that Logan would want you to be happy too, Rogue.”

She was quiet for a few minutes, just staring at a hole in her jeans. Then she quietly said, “You know, if you wanted to, you could call me Marie.”

This came as quite a shock to me, because I knew for a fact that the only person to ever call her Marie was Logan. Looked like she thought about me the same way I thought about her. “Ok, Marie.” Then I did it. I leaned over and I kissed her. And not just on the cheek, like we’d been doing for the past couple of months. But a real kiss, like neither of us had had for quite sometime. I needed to show her that I wasn’t talking in general. I was talking about her. I needed to let her know I’d open up my soul for her if that were what she needed me to do.

---

Marie started coming into my room to do her homework. She was taking classes at the local community college and needed a quiet place to study. And to practice. She and the Professor were working on a way to make it possible for her to gain control of her power. She was doing well too.

But then there was the mission. It seemed to be a routine pick up. It was supposed to be a routine pick up. It was just Rogue and me when Magneto and his gang attacked us. Plus a new mutant that no one knew. Her name was Carol Danvers. She was going at Rogue nonstop. The fact that John was with them caught Rogue off guard. She lost her concentration. Then that woman caught Rogue, and was about to kill her when Rogue pulled off her glove and touched her. And then killed her. And then Marie passed out, and didn’t wake up.

The next few months were terrible. Marie was doing her best, but Carol was strong. Our new doctor, Dr. Hank McCoy, said that it would take some time for Marie to gain back her control of the occupants in her brain. Charles did everything he could to help her, but said that it was up to Rogue to really take over. I tried to help her, Charles had told me that just talking to her might help. That was the first time I told Marie that I loved her. While she was unconscious. Some Fearless Leader, huh? But I still like to think it helped. Even if all it did was piss off the little bits of Logan still in her head enough to get him to do something.

---

When she woke up, I was sitting in the chair by her bed. I’d been there for the last month, not moving; at least not more than to just run to the bathroom. I felt like it was my fault that she had been hurt, that all of this had happened to her, so the least I could do was stay by her side.

I was asleep when she woke up, so there was no way I could have stopped her from doing what she did.

She reached over and touched my face. And nothing happened. I simply woke up to the feel of Marie brushing her bare hand against my cheek.

“Hi, Scott.”

“Hey. What’s going on?”

“It’s a present, from Carol. Well, because of her anyway.”

I smiled. “Presents are good.”

“Yeah, I kinda think so too,” she drawled. That accent of hers was about to get me into serious trouble. “Hey Scott.”

“Yeah Marie?”

“I love you too,” she smiled.

---

Five months later

After a shopping trip to the mall with Jubilee and Kitty, I finally had everything I needed. The two girls were in the kitchen whipping up everything for later. I was in my room staring at the small black box in front of me. Marie was with the Professor in Washington. They would be back later that night. I opened the box to look at the ring one more time. It was platinum, with a diamond and two amethysts on either side. I closed the box, slid it into my jacket pocket, and headed to the shower.

---

Jubilee’s main job was to get Marie into one of her formal dresses. It worked. She came into the ballroom wearing a long, dark green, back-less, sleeve-less gown, with short black lace gloves. She looked gorgeous.

I walked her to one of the dimly lit tables at one end of the ballroom. At the other end, Kitty had set up a deejay stand and a dance area. Jubilee was the deejay, playing soft music while we ate. Kitty and Bobby had prepared the meal and were serving it.

“What’s this all about Scott?”

“It’s nothing. Just enjoy,” I answered, with a smile.

The meal went off with out a hitch. I asked Marie to join me on the dance floor, and she did, still very much confused. Jubilee did a great job picking out the music. It was perfect. There was just one last thing. I got down on one knee and pulled the box out of my pocket. “Marie, I wanted you to know that being with you has made me happier than I ever thought possible. I hope that you feel the same way, and I’m pretty sure you do. Marie, will you marry me?” I opened the box, and looked into her eyes, knowing that the answer was right there. I just wanted to hear it out loud.

“Yes, Scott, I will marry you,” she said softly, with tears in her eyes. I peeled the glove off of her hand, and took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger. Standing up, I caught her round the waist, and said, “I love you,” before I kissed her.