The Hand You're Dealt

16| Then & Now

Lauren practically stayed by his side, talking and laughing with him, and learning more card tricks. She put her newfound skills to use quite a few times with students walking the hallways. A trick impressed Kitty and Jubilee, and the Beast was too when she had gotten his card right. She beamed back at Gambit with pride, and he never wanted to kiss her so badly.

They nearly went everywhere together; Gambit first took her out into North Salem so she could see what the world was like outside of the X Mansion, then they went car shopping for a new Toyota Camry to replace her mother's totaled one—he explained to her about the wreck and the Professor offered to fund the purchase. Then he gauged enough time had passed, and he asked her out on a date.

The date was simple: just dinner. When they went out again, he changed it up: dinner and a movie, a quiet walk to see Christmas lights, a magician's show in New York City—which she said that his tricks were much better—or just ordering pizza and staying in. On those nights, it was hard to keep the schoolkids away, but Gambit found it that he didn't mind it too much: the kids brought laughter and challenged them both to video games. As long as Lauren was happy, so was he.

Tomorrow, he planned on spending the whole day in New York City and just go wherever she wanted to go. Today, though, he was working: the Professor had asked him to teach a class—P.E. Lauren had shown skill in painting and the Professor thought about hiring her, but whenever she was ready.

He had ended class early today so they could go be out in the snow. The kids were loving it: having snowball fights, making snow angels, or building snowmen. He monitored them from afar, enjoying watching them so carefree—something rare for all mutants to experience.

But back to Lauren teaching art... Maybe he could take her to the Metropolitan Museum of Art tomorrow in New York City to see if she was interest—

Gambit suddenly staggered under a snowball slamming into his back. Once he recovered, he whipped around to see what kid had thrown it. All of his classes knew not to invoke him, for he'd get them back in a heartbeat.

But standing a few feet before him wasn't one of the schoolkids, but Lauren with a grin on her face. Before he could say anything, she threw another snowball at him.

"Play, you stick-in-the-mud!" she taunted.

With an equal grin, Gambit scooped up some snow, balled it, and threw it at her. She laughed as she took off running before his missile hit her. He ran after her, stooping to make a snowball, and throw it; she did the same, turning to fire back. She squealed when a snowball hit her.

Their chase didn't last long, for Gambit caught up with her quickly and wrapped his arms around her waist to stop her. Laughing, Lauren squirmed in his arms in an attempt to get free. An evil thought popped into his head; he grabbed some snow and dropped it down her shirt back. She yelled, fighting even harder to get away from him and to remove the snow; he just laughed.

"You're terrible!" she said as she continued to squirm.

"You started it," he said when he let her go.

Lauren stepped away from him and kicked the snow back at him.

"Careful," he warned.

"Why?"

Gambit lunged, tackling her to the ground. They were both laughing as he tickled her, making her squirm even more. When he finally stopped so she could breathe, he realized how close their faces were.

He caressed her face, his thumb lightly tracing her lips. Lauren's breathing had turned from harsh panting to short, heavy breaths. He leaned down, his lips almost touching hers...

But he pulled back; Lauren looked at him with puzzlement. Gambit had stopped himself from kissing her because he didn't know if she felt the same about him. He didn't want to force her to be with him because he wanted it.

Gambit lifted off her and gave her a hand to help her up.

"You know, Kitty and Jubilee have told me something about you..." Lauren suddenly began; it caught his attention. "I didn't believe them, but I've noticed you tend to tense some when I draw close. And what almost just happened. Because of that, I've begun to think that they aren't lying." She looked at him. "So, do you care about me like they said?"

Gambit just stared at her. He never thought the two girls would become his wingmen, but he was grateful that they had helped out. "Oui; I care very much about you, Lauren. Je t'aime; I love you. I couldn't tell you before because you had to get your feet back under you."

"Did I love you, before?"

He felt so excited at where this was going. "You told Kitty and Jubilee you did, and the Professor knew."

"Was there anyone before?" she asked. At seeing his eyes dim, she hurriedly added: "I'm not trying to say that I don't like you; it's just I don't want to betray some other guy because I don't remember him."

He couldn't help his face falling along with his hopeful heart as he thought about Mr. Kavel... and their kiss. "There might be someone: a Mr. Kavel—he was your boss back in Chicago. We ran into him in Saratoga and he kissed you."

She blinked. "My boss? I was dating my boss?"

"Well, not yet. He mentioned not having the guts to ask you out before you left Chicago. I believe he kissed you to show that he was serious—you said he was a big flirt."

Lauren was quiet as she thought about his words. "Did I mention my interest back in him any?"

Gambit had to avert his eyes so she couldn't see his hurt. "Some."

"Hey." Her hand under his chin brought him back to face her. "If I didn't talk about him to Kitty or Jubilee, I probably wasn't that interested in him." She gave a soft chuckle. "I bet I talked about him with you to make you jealous.

"Think about it: if I wanted to be with Mr. Kavel, I would've told the others about him; instead, I talked about you."

His heart rose again because of her words; Gambit fought to restrain his hope from getting too high—she could still deny him. "No matter what you thought before, that was then... What do you think now?"

Lauren looked at him for a long time. She touched his face. "You're the only person who has expressed interest in me—well, that I remember—so I'm expected to love you. But, you have done so much for me and have been so patient that I've fallen in love with you. It's not just because you're my only choice; I truly love you, Remy."

He didn't hold back this time in kissing her. Gambit pulled her tight against him and a hand weaved through her hair, keeping her close as he kissed her; Lauren kissed him back, just as needy. After so long and through so much, she was finally his.

Finally.