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”You haven’t told her yet?”
Erik’s voice is loud, and Charles has to quickly slap a hand across his lips to muffle it before Raven can hear him.
“Shhh! Raven is right out there! She’ll hear you.” he hisses, with his hand still lodged over Erik’s thin line of a mouth. “No, I haven’t. Not yet. I was going to but then I… didn’t.”
Erik lifts one eyebrow at Charles but he doesn’t attempt to remove Charles’ hand. Instead he purses his lips and presses a quick peck to his palm. Charles lowers his hand and runs his fingers through his unruly mop of hair.
“It’s complicated,” he starts. “First of all, you know she had a crush on you when she was younger. And secondly, you know she knows how much you and I used to… not enjoy each other’s company.”
“I know,” Erik says, “but I still don’t get why you won’t just tell her. That was ten years ago. A lot has changed since then.” As if to emphasize his point he draws Charles closer and kisses his cheek.
“I know. I know, love.” Charles wraps his arms around Erik and squeezes. “It’s just, she knows all about our rocky past and I guess I’m afraid that she won’t approve. We rarely see each other as it is, I don’t want a big fight to break out on top of that.”
“I won’t pretend like I’m not a little offended by that,” Erik says, with a crisp edge to his voice, “But I know how important your sister is to you, so I won’t make a big deal out of it. Today.” He slides out of Charles grip and before he leaves he presses one more kiss to his scruffy, gingery cheek. “Why don’t you go help Raven, while I hit the shower?”
Charles nods, watches as Erik slips through the bathroom door, and leaves their bedroom in search of his sister. He finds her in the middle of their living room balancing precariously on top of a step ladder.
“What are you doing?” he asks as he walks over to help her get down.
Her sleek blue scales glimmer in the sharp winter sun seeping through the huge windows as she takes his hand. “Just adding a few last-minute touches,” she says with a smile and a quick glance at the ceiling. From one of the chandeliers she has hung a small sprig of mistletoe.
“Is that for you and Hank? That’s cute,” Charles says. “Where is he by the way?”
“Oh, he just popped out to finish his last Christmas shopping. He should be back in a couple of hours.” She wraps her arm around Charles’ shoulders and starts leading him towards the kitchen. “Come on, big bro, why don’t you and I bake some cookies, we haven’t done that in years.”
“I’d love to,” Charles says, squeezing back.
“Where did Erik go, by the way?”
“Oh. Uhm. He’s wrapping gifts,” Charles answers, stumbling awkwardly over his words, hoping the lie doesn’t show on his face.
~~ ** ~~
“Hey,” Erik says as he comes up behind Charles and rests his hands on Charles’ hips. “Where’s Raven?”
“Napping,” Charles says, “The jet-lag is getting to her, she almost fell asleep face first the cookie batter.” He twists in Erik’s loose grip and reaches up to place a quick peck on his lips. At Erik’s quirked eyebrow he glances up and points to the mistletoe just above their heads. “Raven put them up all through the place. I don’t know what she’s up to, to be honest. Maybe she thinks I want a reason to hook up with someone on the guest list.”
“She will have to be disappointed then,” Erik says, his grip tightening a little, “because you won’t be hooking up with some random guy on a guest list.”
“I’m hooking up with you.”
“I’m not a random guy on the guest list. I live here.”
“I know,” Charles says, and he knows he is positively beaming at Erik as he draws him in for another kiss. Deciding to move in together with Erik is by far the best decision he has ever made. Kissing Erik makes everything around him blur and drown in the sensation of Erik’s lips on his. That must be why he doesn’t notice the presence of a third mind approaching.
“Oh!”
Charles pushes Erik away and turns around so fast he nearly loses his footing. “Hank!” he says, “Hey, buddy! How was shopping?”
“Uh. Good?”
Perhaps Charles’ next move is dumb, but he can feel the panic at getting caught kissing Erik brewing and rational thought just blows away. “Haven’t seen you in a while,” he says to Hank, covering the distance between them in a few steps and leaving a confused Erik behind. “Come here!” He wraps his arms around Hank’s blue neck and pulls the much bigger man into a crushing hug.
He holds on until it is almost unbearably awkward. He can feel Hank’s mind lit up with confusion and a little twist of fear. Erik’s with agitation as Charles can feel himself being dragged from Hank by his watch and the buckle on his belt.
He lets go of Hank who quickly scurries three steps back and mumbles something about finding Raven before practically leaping out of the room.
“I think you scarred Hank for life,” Erik says, tugging again on Charles’ Rolex so that he has to move close enough for Erik to wrap his arms around him.
“I panicked,” Charles says. “It was the first thing that came to mind. I don’t want him putting two and two together and telling Raven before I get a chance to do it.”
“You are going to tell Raven, right?” Erik asks. “You’re not just saying you will and waiting for the right moment but really waiting for her to leave?”
“I am,” Charles says with as much determination as he can bring into his voice. “I will tell her, as soon as I can.”
~~ ** ~~
Charles can barely hear himself – or anyone else – think over the sound of his friend Sean belting out Jingle Bell Rock over the karaoke machine. Everywhere he turns he sees his family, friends, and coworkers all laughing and dancing and drinking.
His Christmas parties have always been splendid and this one is no exception. But still he just can’t seem to get into the right spirit. He hasn’t told Raven yet and now she has started to act strange. He wonders if maybe Hank let something slip because all night she has been trying to get him to stand under one of the many mistletoes she put up all over his apartment.
And, as if his troubles with Raven are not enough, he is starting to think that Erik is upset with him. They haven’t talked since the guests started arriving and it is almost as if Erik is avoiding him. Whenever Charles enters a room, Erik seems to be just slipping out.
It is starting to really upset him, and he wants to talk to his sister, but he doesn’t know what to say. He will just have to say it. Maybe he can get Raven off to the side where they can get at least a little privacy and then just tell her. Tell his baby sister that he has been lying to her for years.
She is going to hate him.
“Raven!” he calls out as he spots her sleek red hair in the middle of a crowd at the opposite end of the room. She turns and smiles brightly when she spots him and waves him over.
“There you are!” she says happily as he slips in between Hank and Angel to stand next to her.
“I really need to talk to you,” he says quietly, leaning closer. “I have to tell you something. Can we step outside for a second?”
“Can it wait?” she asks, putting gentle pressure on Charles’ back so that he has to move forward. “Because I really need you… here.” She says the final word just as she directs him into place underneath one of the mistletoe adorned chandeliers.
“What? Why? What’s this about, Raven?”
“You’ll see,” she says as she slips away with a wink.
Then there’s a hand on his shoulder spinning him around and there are lips crushing his and hands sliding around him and pulling him in. When Erik finally, what feels like hours later, lets him come up for air he can feel every set of eyes and every mind in the room pointed directly at him.
“I can explain,” he says, his voice giving away his breathlessness. It’s meant for Raven, but he can’t find her in the crowd so the words just kind of hang there in the air for a few seconds before Erik swoops down and plants another hungry kiss on his lips.
“So can I,” Erik starts, as he finally lets go of Charles.
“What?”
“I can explain. You see, I asked Raven to put up all the mistletoes and I asked her to make sure you were standing under one.”
“I’m not sure I follow,” Charles says. He feels dazed, but he can not tell if it is from the kisses or whatever it is that is happening.
“I thought it would be romantic,” Erik continues, “filling our home with mistletoe. So, I asked Raven to help me.”
“But Rave – “
“I know, Charles,” Raven says from somewhere in the audience, “I have known for… oh, about five years now. You have absolutely no poker face.”
“What?”
“So,” Erik says, drawing Charles’ attention back to him, “we have established that this is a very romantic gesture and that your sister has known about us essentially since we started dating and is happy for us. Then there is only one thing left to do.”
And with that he sinks to one knee and grabs Charles’ hands in one of his. The other hand he slips into his pocket and withdraws a small gold band.
“Charles, Liebling,” he says, “We have known each other for such a long time. When we first met we did not like each other. You could even say we were adversaries.” Erik laughs and there is an amused murmur traveling through the crowd, but Charles is fighting to keep his tears back.
“But somewhere along the way, as we got to know each other a lot better,” Erik continues, squeezing Charles’ hand, “everything was turned on its head and now you are the most important person in my life and I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of it without you.”
“Yes,” Charles says.
“I haven’t asked you yet.”
“I can read your mind, remember? I know the question, but alright, go ahead, love.”
“Will you marry me?”
Charles barely has time to nod before Erik has him in his arms. He can feel the ring sliding onto his finger seemingly by its own volition. He presses his face against Erik’s neck; he wants to get as close to him as he can, and he also wants to wipe tears off his face and get a few seconds to himself.
Then he looks up and just a few feet away he spots his sister. Her eyes are also glistening and her smile so wide it nearly splits her face.
Looking at her he makes a promise to himself, never to doubt her again.