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“Let’s go out.”, they had said, “It will be fun, you’ll see.”
And well, yes, going to a bar together to find a new mutant to recruit against Shaw had been fun. Charles had easily found the bartender and convinced him to join you, so then Raven had declared the rest of the evening off to drink, dance and generally have fun. You had had a nice evening, truly, you had had some fries which you had had to defend from Alex with the help of Charles and Erik, and then Raven had pulled you to your feet and demanded you dance with her.
This had also been great fun, despite the both of you failed to convince the men in your group to join you; Charles had pretended he did not see Raven urge him come closer, Erik had simply shaken his head dismissively, Sean had looked anywhere but at you two, Hank had stared at you, but rather like a rabbit caught in the headlights than someone who might want to come dance with you and even Alex waved it off. Until he got up to dance with another girl.
You were both slightly offended, but paid it no mind, instead you and Raven danced together, having more fun than you had had in a long time, maybe years.
A guy asked Raven to dance and before she agreed, she looked to you for permission, silently asking if she could leave you on the dance floor alone. Smiling, you waved her away, sure that you would be fine. And why not? You were just dancing.
You saw Raven look back to you and laughed her concern off, signalling her to have fun and never to mind you. A quick glance over your shoulder told you that both Erik and Charles frowned at the guy Raven was dancing with, but you just giggled. It was their own fault, they had had the chance to make their move and had let it pass.
Lost to the music, you danced, your eyes closed half the time. Before Charles and Erik had found you, you had led a quite miserable life, working all day to make a living after you had left your family, afraid that you would one day hurt them with your powers. You refused to think of the one person you had actually had hurt with the bolts of lightning you could throw and instead reminded yourself that everyone was trying to help you control it.
With a smile, you focused on the music again, happily dancing away to the rhythm, enjoying the warmth in the crowded room, the feeling of people all around you. Normally you would think it dangerous with your powers, but your friends were just a few feet away, you felt safe with them.
Suddenly, arms wrapped around your waist and you gave a violent start as a body pressed against your back, a man. You hoped that it would simply be Alex, grinning mischievously, or Erik even though you mostly hoped for Charles, but you knew that he would never be that blunt.
And when you turned around quickly, your fears were confirmed. You had never seen that man before in your life.
“Hey, sweetie.”, he greeted you, his speech slurred. He was drunk, absolutely hammered.
Knowing this, you froze. Once, only once had you had to deal with such a drunkard up close and it had not ended well for him. You had almost fried that man alive a few weeks before Charles and Erik had found you. And now, in a crowded bar, you could not risk showing your powers, under no circumstances could you do that. But… what could you do?
“Let’s dance…”, the man in front of you babbled, his breath reeking with alcohol, his body with sweat. You tried to push him away with your elbows, as your power resided in the palms of your hands, but it was no use. The man’s hands went lower and came to lie on your buttocks, where you absolutely did not want them. But he was stronger than he looked, you could not just break his hold on you, not while you were still trying to keep your hands away from him so as not to hurt him.
“Whaddaya say, we could go to my p-place…”, that drunkard stammered, but you desperately tried to shut his voice out, tried to not feel his inappropriate touch. To no avail, because you felt sobs tighten your chest, tears well up in your eyes and you tried to curl up into a ball, stars dancing in your vision. You knew what this was, an anxiety attack. You were trapped, helpless and desperate.
“Get away from my girlfriend.”, a deep, angry voice rumbled next to you and as the man did not let go of you immediately, he was jerked away with such force, that you stumbled as he tried to hold on to you.
“Erik…”, you whispered as you saw your friend shoving the drunkard away from you, but instead of talking to you, he gently pushed you backwards, into the arms of someone. In panic, you spun around and breathed a sigh of relief when you saw Charles.
“Come with me.”, his voice resounded in your mind, calming you, “Let’s get out of here.”
All you could do was nod, and that only just so. Charles put an arm around you and led you out of the bar. As soon as the chilly night air filled your lungs, you knew that you had gotten away safely. And that was when you broke down completely.
Sobs racked you, tears streamed down your face and you could do nothing but fall to your knees, your vision going blank and dark. You would have fallen hard onto the pavement had it not been for Charles who barely caught you.
You were crying uncontrollably and when he sat down with you on the curb and pulled you against his chest, all you could do was cling to him.
“You are safe, (Name).”, he gently reassured you, his voice in your mind, “There is nothing to worry about.”
Charles tenderly rocked you, almost like a child, and he combed his fingers through your hair over and over again, whispering sweet nothings and reassurances in your mind. Bit by bit, you calmed down again, your sobs grew quiet the longer you heard Charles talk to you, your cold and stiff fingers unclenched and slowly let go of his shirt the more of his warmth seeped into you.
Sniffling, puffy-eyed and embarrassed, you slowly leaned away from him and saw that your tears had stained his shoulder.
“I am so sor…”, you began, but he stopped you by cupping your face in his warm hand, his thumb on your lips as he smiled and told you, “No, I am sorry. We should have seen that bugger sooner.”
You just shook your head, trying to tell him that it was by no means his fault, but you found no words, instead a few more tears fell. Charles wiped them away, a bitter smile on his lips when he told you: “You might not think so, but you did well. The self-control you showed proves how much you have learned.”
Confused, you blinked at him and he gave you a rueful smirk: “A few weeks ago, that guy would have been grilled on the spot.”
You bit your lip at that: “I didn’t mean to hurt him, I just…”
“I know.”, Charles gently interrupted you as you found no more words, “And you did well. There is still much to learn, but you will be able to just zap such drunkards hard enough to drive them away without anybody noticing.”
You giggled at the thought and Charles smiled, but your attention was drawn to the approaching footsteps. There was Erik, his face still grim with anger, but his features softened when he crouched down in front of you. One hand grasped your fingers and squeezed them in a firm hold as he asked you: “How are you?”
“Better.”, you replied and Erik nodded, informing you, “That idiot is no threat anymore.”
Shocked, you stared at him, as did Charles for a moment, but Erik scoffed at you: “I convinced his sober friends to get him home to sleep off his inebriation. I did not harm him.”
When you sighed in relief, Erik muttered an addition: “Much.”
“Erik.”, you mumbled exasperatedly, but with a lop-sided smile and you looked him in the eyes when you said, from the bottom of your heart, “You didn’t have to pretend I was your girlfriend. Thank you for rescuing me.”
“Any time.”, Erik nodded and got up, but then added, “Do not thank me, I have to admit that I did not see your predicament. It was Charles who sent me.”
With that, he returned to the bar, but you stared at Charles in disbelief. Of course, it made sense, he had most likely felt your anxiety, but why had he not said so?
“Uh my…ahem.”, Charles tried to clear his throat and failed, so he receded to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck and looking anywhere but at you.
“I…felt your distress.”, he then slowly, reluctantly mumbled and shyly peeked at you, “So I asked Erik to help you. He is far more intimidating than I am.”
At first, you kept staring at him, but then you giggled until you really burst out laughing. Charles gave you a confused look, but then grinned alongside you. When you had calmed down again, you smiled at him and sincerely said: “Thank you. I am grateful that you’d found me when you did. And I am very lucky to have friends like you.”
“Yes, of course.”, Charles murmured to himself and took a deep breath, again looking everywhere, anywhere but at you. It did not take telepathy to know he was nervous, but why you had no idea.
“Maybe we should… head back.”, he then suggested, clearly unhappy with it, but when you slowly nodded, still not having the foggiest what he was really thinking about, Charles gave you that rueful smile again and gently placed his hands on your shoulders before he leaned closer and pressed a comforting kiss to your forehead.
He did that sometimes and it never failed to thrill you. As solely his presence did whenever you two were alone.
You shuddered under his gentle touch and you did not know what made you do it, but you made a decision then and there. As gently as he had been, you cupped Charles’ cheeks in your hands, happy and relieved that he had never flinched or shied away from your palms despite their destructive power, then you leaned in to him and pecked his cheek. You lingered, shyly looking into his eyes, the clear and bright blue you had grown to love, and he returned your gaze. Slowly, affectionately, Charles’ hands wandered from your shoulders to your face and he leaned closer, but then waited. Waited for your permission, for any sign that you did not want this. But you did.
And when you nodded just the slightest bit, he smiled and closed the small gap between you, finally pressing his lips to yours in the sweetest kiss. Emotions surged through you, so many at the same time that you were overwhelmed and clung to Charles, but the one thing you were sure of was this kiss; you wanted more. Maybe you would never get enough, who knew.
Without hesitation, you deepened the kiss, turning the sweet touch of your lips into an intimate affection. It was Charles who pulled away first, panting slightly and then giggling nervously.
“Wow…”, he mumbled, flustered and blushing fiercely. Never had he looked as cute to you as he did in that very moment.
“Let’s…”, he began, stumbling over his own words and you finished his sentence with a grin, “Return to the others in the bar. Yes.”
“Phew.”, he sighed, you had overwhelmed him it seemed. Charles took your hand in his and pulled you to your feet, but you did not let his hand go again. Instead, you held it as you two entered the bar again and approached the table your friends were sitting at.
“(Name), I’m so sorry, I didn’t…!”, Raven began as she jumped to her feet, but then her gaze dropped to your hand, still intertwined with Charles’ and she grinned at the two of you, “Finally!”
You could not stop a giggle, but Charles looked at his foster sister in utter confusion until she gave him an exasperated stare: “C’mon. Everybody knew but you two.”
“Everybody?”, Charles asked, barely above a squeak and while Raven grinned wickedly, all your friends around the table nodded their affirmation.
“Oh God…”, Charles mumbled and smiling, you pulled him into an embrace so he could hide his face in shame.
“They all knew…”, he muttered, “They knew before I did.”
“Don’t worry, love.”, you said, reassuringly rubbing his back, “You’re a telepath, not omniscient. But you’re perfect just the way you are.”
For that he pressed a kiss to your cheek, too shy to kiss you properly in front of the others. And they made sure to tease him with that…throughout the whole evening.