A Warm Welcome? (May 2012)

Gambit took the bags down while Serena was getting ready to leave. He wanted to say goodbye to Logan but he didn’t want to disturb him. He guessed that them being together did not go over well with her parents and honestly. He couldn’t blame them. Still it said something though that Serena obviously wasn’t going to put up with that. And now here they were, in the middle of the night, leaving to go back to the mansion. It made him wonder though if he really was good for Serena. He thought about taking her to New Orleans and wondered now if that was a good idea either. When she finally came down he opened the door for her then got around and into the drivers seat.

“I’m sorry Serena though I’m not certain what I’m saying sorry for...I just feel bad about this,” he said.

Serena hated making Gambit drive back to the mansion tonight, but she didn’t want to stay in the Tower if her choices were going to be questioned. She got her things and didn’t even say goodbye to her parents. She walked down to the car and sat in the passenger seat. She sighed when Gambit began to apologize. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to come and put you through this.”

She fell quiet for a while and waited until they were out of the city and heading upstate before speaking again. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He would know that she was talking about what her father had brought up.

“Tell you what?” Gambit asked. “What I choose to tell you and not to tell you is up to me. My business,” he said. He didn’t sound angry and wasn’t. His tone was just a matter of factly about it. He continued to face forward and drive. It was very dark where they were, only a few street lights were actually lit and working.

He went with her to meet her family because she asked him to. He didn’t know what to expect but he had wished it had gone a different way. Her father was...formidable. Not someone he was going to be able to fool. How he found out about The Council of Thieves though...not easy at all but Tony had resources at his disposal and money. Both those things probably helped him find someone willing to talk about it. He certainly would not. Serena only knew the name her father mentioned but not anything else about it. He hoped she wouldn’t pry though. But he also knew that it had made her very curious about him. Serena has one of those brains that made her want to know as much as possible.

What Gambit said hurt Serena more than he clearly thought it would. She had opened up to him about things in her life, but he was clearly not willing to do the same. "I guess I thought that you and I were closer than we really are. That was my mistake and I won't make the same mistake again." She didn't say another word for the rest of the trip back. As soon as they got into the mansion she went straight to her room and closed and locked the door and didn't invite him in to stay with her. She was upset. The entire night had not gone the way she had hoped. Her father had been drunk and had tried to pick fights with Gambit and then what her mother had said to her. What she was most upset about though was that perhaps they were right.

The next morning Gambit came to her room. When she told him through the door that she didn’t want to talk to him right then he thought about just stepping away. But instead he shouldered the door and it broke open. He stepped inside then slammed it closed behind him.

“Who the fuck do you think you are? You don’t just get to turn this on and off because you’re not happy about something. That’s not how love works but maybe you Stark’s do something different with the people you love,” he said though it was nearly a shout. She had stood up as soon as the door was kicked in and he marched over to her.

“Your feelings for me had nothing to do with what you did or didn’t know about me. It’s not fair that it does now,” he said. “I certainly don’t love you any less after what happened!” Gambit said angrily. His red eyes blazed with an internal fire. “But I’ll make this simple for you Miss Stark! You tell me to go and I will go,” he said. He positioned himself so she could not just walk away from him. He would not allow that, he wanted her to tell him it was over or it wasn’t. He wasn’t going to live in some relationship pergatory.

Serena was startled by Gambit shouldering in her door. She baked up and blinked at him as he began to go off on her. She waited until he was finished before she began to speak. "You say you love me Gambit and yet I know very little about you. Love is not about only offering part of yourself to that person. You have to offer all of yourself and open yourself up otherwise the relationship is doomed to fail. You made yourself very clear last night that you have no intention of telling me everything about yourself and that is your choice. But I cannot be in a relationship with someone who doesn't trust me."

Gambit listened to Serena but it was quickly apparent that she just didn’t understand. This wasn’t about trust, it was about protecting her. In his world, what you did know could kill you. The Council of Thieves and Assassins didn’t like people talking about them or even knowing their very existence. Somehow, they always found out.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, I am protecting you,” he said as he looked at her. “I know you believe that you are untouchable. That what harm could there be in telling you? I can only tell you that knowing everything would be dangerous for you and it won’t change anything about the here and now if you do know. “It won’t change how we feel about one another or that I want to take you into my arms and make crazy, passionate love to you right now,” Gambit said. “No...this is about YOU trusting me I think. You Starks appear very good at turning things completely around for your own ends. Well...I can do that too,” he said and then proved it by taking her into his arms and kissing her. He felt her kissing him back and then her arms clamped around his neck. Gambit needed her right then, badly and he didn’t bother with her shirt or bra, he just pulled up her dress, ripped off her panties as he laid her down onto the bed. He unbuckled his belt and shoved his pants down just enough to allow him to enter her. He felt her struggle at first, as if that wasn’t what she wanted right then but her protests were soon replaced by moans and her hands on him urging him on to go deeper and faster.

A while later they were together under the covers. Neither of them had slept much and he could tell she was exhausted. He finally let her sleep and she curled up and did go to sleep though it was morning. She woke to the every day sounds of a busy mansion that held lots of students. When she reached over for Gambit though he was not there beside her. When she shifted to look around the room she noticed a playing card on his pillow. The Jack of Spades. His card.