Street Livin’ - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Courtney
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 2

After lunch, breakfast, whatever the meal meant to the two, they set off to get some supplies for Rogue. It changed Remy's original plan of getting some new clothes, but he could just steal them later if needed. Why didn't he just always steal? He didn't know the answer either. He just figured he wasn't completely the devil child that everyone thought him to be because of his strange eyes. But he didn't want to spend all of that day's 'earnings', since he always saved just a little bit each time. He wasn't going to stay like this forever, so he had his own savings hidden among his safe house.

He and Rogue walked down the street, trying to blend in. Rogue's clothes were in better shape than Remy's, but her jeans and sweater were matted with mud in some spots. Remy's older jeans had a few holes and the heels were tattered from being stepped on. He wore a dingy, yellow tinted T-shirt, but covered it by a worn out brown duster that he'd stolen from a coatroom in a bar. It was, by far, his favorite piece of clothing in his limited wardrobe.

"We're gon' have t' get y' at least anot'er sweater… gon' hold off on jeans dough. Dey'll last a long time." She nodded along from beside him. He made a checklist aloud. "Blanket, some ot'er clothes t' wear if y' washin' y' main ones, some more soap an' such…"

"Remy?"

"Oui?" He stopped walking to look back at her to where she was peering curiously into a pet store window.

"What was it like foh you when ya first started out?"

"A lot like you. But I learned ev'ryt'in' from trial an' error. Real lonely too."

"Did ya evah talk ta anyone?"

"Sometimes. But mainly, when y're on y' own, y're on y' own."

"Oh." She caught up to him. "Well, ya got me now," she smiled encouragingly.

"I know." He grinned back. "Y' ready t' shop?"

She nodded happily and they walked into the thrift store.

Inside, Rogue watched as Remy walked up and down the aisles, picking up random stuff. She actually hated shopping. When her mother would actually take her out and shopping, they would be in boutiques. Rogue remember scrunching her nose when they would pass the perfume and whining incessantly when she would be forced to try on twenty different outfits. Those places drove her insane. So why did it feel so wrong to be here then? She figured it was because she had been using her father's inheritance money on everything for her and now she was depending on a stranger. It wasn't the store at all. She pledged to herself, as Remy picked up a bar of soap, that she would make it up to him. Somehow.

"See anyt'in' dat I missed?" He asked as she walked up to him. She looked in his basket.

"Umm… new underwear?" She weakly smiled.

"Right. F'got dat detail f'a girl… y' pick 'em out, eh?"

She nodded and ran quickly to get them. She grabbed a generic three-pack and met up with Remy again. "Thanks."

"Don' worry 'bout it. Let's go check out."

They walked to the cashier. After giving the two a strange look, the clerk took their things and started to ring them up. The order came up to a bit over forty dollars, leaving Remy with twenty-five from the day.

On their way out, Remy said, "We'll get y' some real new clothes t'morrow, okay, Rogue?" He had gotten her a simple T-shirt with boxer shorts to sleep in so he could wash the mud off her original clothes.

"That's fine," a smile creeping onto her face with the mention of her new name. "Ah really appreciate ya doin' this. More than you'll evah know."

"It's jus' gon' take some gettin' used t' on my part."

"Ah understand. Jus' let me know if Ah'm doin' somethin' wrong." She shifted the shopping bag to over her shoulder. He gave a curt nod and they walked some more in silence.

Dusk was settling in and Remy pointed to the office building coming up on the road. "Dat's goin' t' be y' home for a while."

A wistful gleam came to her eyes. "Home," she repeated. A brief flash came to her mind of the day her and her mom moved in to Victor's house. It was about a month after they had gotten married. Rogue had been ecstatic, since she never really knew her biological father and this was her moment to have a real family.

She was in her room unpacking when Victor came in to check in on her. She grinned at his entrance. "Look!" She held up her favorite stuffed animal, a little teddy bear with angel wings. "She can go right on mah new bed!" Giggling happily, she set it right on her pillow. "See!"

"That's great, honey." He sat on the bed next to where she still had a huge smile on her face. "Listen, I have a couple small requests since you're in mah house now, okay, Baby?"

"Sure!" She climbed onto the bed next to him.

"One. No stayin' up past 8:30 for li'l girls like you." She nodded firmly along with his suddenly stern voice. She thought it was a game. "Two. Ya hafta call me Daddy."

"But, Ah do already."

"All the time."

She blinked a couple times. "Okay… Daddy."

"That’s mah girl." She expected him to ruffle her hair like she'd seen on TV so many times. But instead, he squeezed her face with one large hand so she could look him directly in the eyes. It was then she noticed how dark they really were. "One more thing, Bethie." Rogue didn't say a thing. She felt his other hand warm on her small thigh, but it did nothing but send chills up her spine. She glanced down, and he shook her head roughly. "Keep ya eyes on me."

Her lip trembled slightly, but she nodded in his hold. She wanted to scream. This didn't feel right. At all. A tiny squeak escaped her mouth and his eyes narrowed viciously towards her own. "Ya don't say a word about this, an' me an' you'll get along just fine, Bethie," he growled. Then he let go of her face and got off the bed, heading for the door. "Welcome home." She watched him leave, the whole situation not sinking in the least bit. She grabbed her angel bear and squeezed him tight against her chest.

She murmured to herself, shivering. "Home."

"Why'd y' jus' say dat twice, Rogue?" She didn't respond to him. "Rogue?"

She finally heard his voice and turned. "Oh. Ah guess Ah still hafta get used to that name," she said with a small laugh.

He wasn't impressed. "Dat doesn't explain y' sudden spacin' out."

She watched her feet as they kept walking towards the building. "Ah was just rememberin' somethin'."

"Care t' say what?"

She shook her head. "Not really."

Remy decided it was best to drop it. Luckily, they had just reached the entrance of the building. "Here we are." Deciding it best if he didn't use the word 'home' again, he just held the door open for her and followed her inside. "We're on de t'ird floor." Rogue nodded, keeping awfully quiet since thinking back to that particular moment. She slowed down so Remy could take lead.

They walked up the stairs, Rogue quickly losing energy. She really had only had the one meal, and it wasn't holding her up much. Thankfully, Remy had bought things at the store so they didn't have to go stealing. Remy knew she wouldn't be up to it and he didn't want to leave her alone, so it was better this way.

He swung open the door to his room and let Rogue walk ahead of him inside. It wasn't the biggest place in the world, but Rogue didn't expect much more. There was really only room for Remy to sleep with a bit more room for walking, but that was about it. She smiled anyway. This was her new home. And there was no Victor to tell her otherwise.

Remy dropped the bags in a corner and began ruffling around in them. He pulled out Rogue's blanket, which was a simple blue flannel one. It would keep her warm enough in the fall nights. Next he pulled out her sleeping clothes and then the soaps. He turned to her, where she was still glancing around the room, taking in every aspect.

"Y' okay?"

She glanced over her shoulder to him, white forelock caught by her eyes. "It's perfect."

"Glad y' like it." He smiled proudly. "But here y' go." He handed her the new clothes and soap. "Dere's a bathroom down de hall. Dere really shouldn' be anyone in dere since people are usually out now gettin' some grub, but just knock, y' know." Rogue nodded. "An' I'll get dinner ready." She smiled and almost skipped out of the room. Remy just watched her go, still not understanding how quickly her mood changed back and forth from almost giddy to depressed and then back again. "Once 'gain, mus' be a girl t'ing."

Rogue washed her face and hair in the sink, feeling much better now that days of grime were off her skin. She looked at her appearance much as Remy had that morning. Her green eyes had something they hadn't had in a long time. She couldn't place a word on it, but it was bordering on happy. She smiled wryly to herself, wringing her hair out over the sink. She looked in the mirror again, eyes falling on the white strands that framed her face. She didn't remember when they appeared, but she heard many things about losing pigment in your hair through traumatic experiences. That was a good reason enough for her.

She finished up in the bathroom and went back to Remy's room. He was busy readying the sandwiches he'd bought. He glanced up as she entered the room. She looked much better than before. Her hair was a little stringy since she hadn't brushed it so Remy handed over his brush so she wouldn't look so shaggy when it fully dried. She sat down next to him and brushed out her long hair.

"D'ya want de ham an' cheese or Italian?"

"Ham an' cheese," she responded, now done with her hair. She pulled her new blanket around her to keep warm. He handed her the sandwich, along with a bag of chips they would be sharing. Then Rogue noticed something. "Ya know, we're indoors now an' it's gettin' dark… you can take off the sunglasses."

He stopped mid-bite of his sandwich. He chewed what he had in his mouth slowly and then gulped it down. Last thing he needed was to frighten her with his eyes.

"Y' sure?"

"Why not? They're just eyes."

Remy sighed deeply and pulled them off, keeping his eyes shut. "Dere. Off."

"Was that so hard?" She smiled at him.

He turned his head to her and opened his eyes. "Oui, it was."

She gasped and instantly regretted it. It looked like his heart dropped down to his toes. It all made sense now why no one ever wanted him. And in her own way, she had rejected him too. "Remy, Ah'm sorry… Ah, um, it's not what Ah was expectin'…" She scolded herself internally. 'Nice job, River Rat.' "It doesn't make a difference though."

He just looked back to his food and munched on it wordlessly. Rogue glanced around, trying to figure out what to do. He actually reached for the glasses again, but Rogue leaned over and knocked them out of his hand. "Don't wear 'em. You're great without 'em."

He glanced to her again, his red on black eyes dim. Rogue caught him straight in the eyes, her green ones piercing. "Remy, Ah don't care what color yoah eyes are. You're still the nicest person Ah've evah met an' somethin' as stupid as eye color won't make me change mah opinion of ya at all."

"Y' mean it?"

A cheerful gleam came back to her emerald eyes. "O' course."

An equally bright grin came to his face. "T'ank you. Y' have no idea how much dat means t' me."

"Like ya said, we're gonna hafta help each other. Ah'm just doin' mah part." Before she realized what she was doing, she had leaned in and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Remy sat, almost stunned at the motion. Slowly, he twisted so he could return the hug. He felt warm to Rogue, and from the inside, not just like he had just been doing something evil to her and was wiping off some sweat. She shivered and Remy held her tighter.

She crawled into his lap and buried her head into his chest. He just held her there and soon after, he felt a dampness on her shirt. "P'tite, y' okay?"

She looked up, new tears brimming her eyes. "Ah haven't been held foh awhile. It's jus'-"

"Shh, me neit'er. Go 'head." She nodded and laid her head back on his chest. Unconsciously, he started stroking her hair soothingly, willing her to relax and fall asleep. She needed it.

After a couple minutes of silence, he looked down on her, and as expected, she had fallen into content slumber. He shifted a bit so he could lie her down. She curled up on the floor as Remy laid her blanket on her. Smiling to himself, he wrapped up her sandwich so she could eat it later. Then, he wrapped himself in his own blanket and finished his dinner, keeping watch over her all the while.