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Erik bursted into Charles’ hospital room, nearly tearing the door off the hinges, papers flying everywhere, as the security guard and several nurses ran in behind him to intervene.
One of the nurses managed to yelp: “Mr. Xavier, Miss Darkholme, I’m so sorry, we couldn’t stop him—“
Raven’s girlfriend Angel and another nurse tending to Charles had the common sense to leave, meanwhile a stampede of wild elephants couldn’t pry Raven away from Charles. When Erik tried to walk up to Charles’ bed, she blocked his path and stood in front of him.
“Excuse me, but what do you think you’re doing? You don’t have permission to be here—“
“What the hell were you thinking, Charles? What the hell possessed you to do something so stupid?” Erik’s eyes were red with fury, face flushed, his entire body trembling with anger. Raven tried her best to stand in his way while Charles was too doped up on drugs to comprehend what was going on.
“Excuse me!” Raven repeated, pissed that Erik was behaving as if she wasn’t standing right in front of him. “You need to leave, now.” She braced her hands on his chest to keep him from getting close, looking past Erik at the security guard and nurses, letting out an exasperated sigh. “Come on, do your fucking jobs!”
“No, I need to talk to Charles,” Erik insisted, shrugging the guard’s hand off his shoulder when he tried to pull Erik away. “He needs to know how stupid his little stunt was.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Raven screamed. “Get out!”
“Just let me talk to him, dammit—“
Erik and the rest of the room were shocked when Raven smacked him across the face. The stress of Charles getting injured for the first time ever in his career, the relentless media approach, thinking about Charles’ future in skating, if he even had one, not having a moment to breathe—it was all too much for her. After that, everyone was scrambling, trying to get Raven away from him.
She knew she’d be hearing from Shaw very soon, but Raven didn’t give a damn. Charles didn’t need this bullshit at such a vulnerable time in his life. They still didn’t even know what was wrong with him. Erik reluctantly left the room, his face still stinging from Raven’s slap. He knew she’d hit him hard enough to leave a red mark, but he couldn’t care less because one way or another Charles was going to hear what he had to say when this whole thing was over.
It took a bit of effort, but the nurses and guard pulled Erik from the room and he finally went willingly. He wasn’t in too much trouble, given his celebrity status and also, the nurses understood why he was so upset, or at least, that was what Erik was going to let them believe.
“Alright. You guys don’t have to walk me all the way. I can take a hint, I’m leaving now,” he grumbled, shrugging out of the security guard’s hand. There was nothing that annoyed him more than being treated like a criminal.
When Erik got down to the first floor lobby, his temper flared up again.
The waiting room was packed with concerned, panicked and frankly attention hungry people who wanted the latest scoop on Charles. Erik scowled at all of them as he walked through the lobby. Given his reputation of being a hard ass, everyone gave him a wide berth and thankfully didn’t bother him. Lucky for them, because Erik would’ve read them the riot act if they even said one word to him. To not be ashamed of trying to exploit someone for their own personal gain made Erik sick.
The paparazzi ambushed him once he exited through the double sliding doors. Erik scowled and tried to hide his face in his hands.
“Erik, Erik! How’s Charles? Is he okay? Were you able to talk to him?”
“I guess this is good news for you since this means you’re a shoe-in for a gold medal in the next competition? How does it feel to know that your biggest adversary is out of the way now?”
“It’ll be just like old times before Charles joined the scene. There’s no way he’ll be able to recover from this embarrassing loss. Can’t wait to see you at the top again, Erik!”
Erik couldn’t help but shoot them a nasty glare. “Don’t you idiots have anything better to do? Like getting real jobs? Or a life?” He didn’t wait for them to answer as he pushed his way through the crowd, not caring if he was stepping on their toes. But even after Erik’s insults, they continued to ask questions and take endless pictures.
He was somewhat relieved when he saw Sebastian in the parking garage, waiting by his lambo. Erik wasn’t surprised that Shaw found out that he was here—the media was always trying to post his every move online—but the look on Shaw’s face told Erik he was due for a tongue lashing.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He demanded once Erik got close enough to him to hear.
Erik sighed and rolled his eyes. “Came to see Charles.”
“For what?” He quickly headed toward the driver’s side, wanting to lock his doors before the paps bum rushed them. “Since when do you care about what happens to that boy?” When he started the car, Shaw was going to say something else derogatory until he noticed the red handprint on Erik’s cheek. “Shit…what happened to your face?”
Erik didn’t speak again until Shaw pulled out of the garage and drove off. “I don’t care what happens to him,” he lied. “But Charles is my only competition. What he did yesterday was downright stupid and he knows it. Why would he risk the rest of Europe and the Four Continents by getting injured?”
“Because he’s a rich, snooty, spoiled, pompous, show-offy little brat who thinks the world owes him something just because he looks good in tights and his mommy pays for everything.” Shaw waited until he stopped at a red light to continue his tirade. “For some reason, you don’t seem to be as happy as I am about this.”
“He cracked his skull on the ice. Yes he did something stupid, but this means he’s out of the running and I won’t have any real competition.”
Shaw looked at him incredulously. “Does it matter? He’s disqualified. That means you’re in the running for a gold medal. I fail to see what the problem is here.”
“There is none,” Erik lied again. “I just went to make sure he wasn’t dead.”
“Who cares if he is?”
Erik frowned, but said nothing else. Sometimes he thought Shaw actually hated Charles whereas Erik just found him annoying. Still, he had a point: Erik had no business being there.
“And you’re wrong about another thing: Charles isn’t your only competition. What about Azazel? Sean? Alex, Scott, Hank, Logan?”
“None of which have ever beaten Charles or myself, so again I ask you: where is the competition?”
“You moron. Think for a second. Now that Charles is on the shelf, what’s stopping them from coming for that gold medal themselves? Remember, you only beat Logan by half a point at the Grand Prix. And he lands more quads than you without tripping. Something you need to work on by the way.”
“But he always fumbles during his sequences which fucks him up. I’m not worried.”
“You should be. Don’t go thinking you can relax just because Charles is gone. You’re in first place now. You have more to prove.”
“I’m aware of that.” Erik was growing too tired of this conversation already. He looked out of the window, trying to focus on something else other than Shaw’s grating voice right now. It was snowing outside, but the flurries weren’t enough to close down anything. It made Erik wish he was out there instead of inside the car with Shaw, paparazzi be damned.
“You’re not gonna tell me who slapped you in the face? Although I do have some ideas…”
Erik almost forgot about that until the sting on his cheek promptly reminded him. “It’s not really her fault. I forced my way into his room to yell at him. Raven was just trying to protect her student.”
“Maybe that bitch will be humbled now that her precious baby Charles is out of the picture. About time someone shut her up.”
“Enough already.” Erik was getting increasingly annoyed at Shaw’s tirade. Charles and Raven weren’t his favorite people either, but he knew where to draw the line and not get personal. “Just take me to my hotel so I can sleep.”
“I hope you’re not losing focus. The gold medal is practically yours now. We don’t have time for this sentimental bullshit. Get your head back in the game Lehnsherr and stay away from Xavier. And get some rest because we’re leaving bright and early in two days.”
Shaw’s voice was beginning to sound like nails on a chalkboard. Erik was so glad to get out of his car and out of his presence.
The paparazzi was already waiting for him at his hotel. It was five in the evening and Erik really wasn’t in the mood for a second round of questions. He plugged in his AirPods and made his way inside, ignoring the cameras and microphones being shoved in his face. Erik’s expression was impassive, and he made it so these dummkopfs wouldn’t get the wrong idea.
Darwin was waiting for him at the entrance, as well as two security guards that worked for the hotel. Erik nodded his greetings to Darwin before Darwin’s eyes grew twice their size when he saw the paps running behind him.
“Holy shit,” he exclaimed, quickly shutting the door and locking it. It was just in time too, because they tapped on the window, asking Darwin to let them in. “Is it me, or have they gotten more insane these past couple of days?”
“It’s because of Charles,” Erik murmured as he checked his phone. “They caught me visiting him at the hospital.”
“You went to go see your most hated rival at the hospital? No wonder they’re chasing you down.”
“It’s not like that,” Erik insisted, rolling his eyes when Darwin gave him a knowing smirk. “I just wanted to tell him how stupid he was for getting disqualified.”
“I think he already knows that—hey! Get the fuck outta here!” Darwin pointed to the side door that the guards forgot to lock as the paps tried to rush in. “This is private property, they can’t come in!”
“We just want to ask Erik a few questions,” one of the paps said.
“I don’t care. You’re trespassing! Leave before I call the police!”
That word seemed to scare them because they immediately backed off, but not before taking a few more pictures of Erik before they left. Darwin exhaled loudly as he shook his head in disgust. “How the hell do you deal with that on a regular basis?”
“My endurance knows no bounds I guess,” he said. He normally didn’t care about the news, but Erik was somewhat curious on what the media was saying about Charles’ injury. There was a large flat screen TV that hung on the wall on the far left side above a coffee table with magazines—some of which had Charles and Erik’s faces on them of course. He turned the TV on and stopped at the first news channel he saw.
“Three-time world champion figure skater Charles Xavier may have seen his career go up in smoke tonight.
During his free skate, Xavier was due to attempt his signature move, the quadruple flip, when he surprised everyone by changing it at the last minute, turning his quad into an illegal one legged backflip. Xavier landed the move, but he tripped over a split in the ice, causing him to fall and crack his head. Charles has been taken to Beaumont Hospital, but no word yet on his condition. Sources say that he will not be qualified to compete for the Four Continents, but there has been no official confirmation—“
“Hey, where are you going?”
Erik abruptly left and headed toward the elevator. Darwin followed him and tried asking him what was wrong, but Erik was able to get the door closed before Darwin could reach him. He didn’t have anything against Darwin, but whenever Erik felt overwhelmed by his emotions, he needed to distance himself from everyone, even people he was marginally friendly with.
As soon as he was alone, Erik pressed his back against the cold wall of the shaft and slid down to the floor. It was the first time all day that he was truly alone. It was the first time he could think about what he’d been trying to avoid thinking about all day.
Charles had made a mistake on the ice for the very first time in his career. He’s never done anything like that. Ever since he came on the scene, he’d gotten perfect scores. Won every competition. Captured everyone’s hearts. When he performed, Charles moved with supreme skill and graceful fluidity. He originally had four quads planned for his program and landed the first three of them with ease, even after his difficult step sequences as if he’d been doing them a million times during practice. For all Erik knew, he did.
His arms roamed like feathery brushes, painting a story through the blades on the ice, choreographed in his gracious body language. As much as Erik hated to admit it, he couldn’t help but be mesmerized by how Charles was moving, because it moved him too. Everything about this performance was flawless and elegant.
And then the unthinkable happened…
For the first time in his figure skating career, Charles finally messed up. And it was all his fault.
He did a backflip on the ice on one leg. An illegal move.
It was bad enough he did that, but his landing was even worse.
The initial news report was what made Erik barge into Charles’ hospital room and yell at him. Anyone would’ve freaked out if the words head injury scrolled on the TV. After that he knew he had to go see Charles. He had to.
Someone had to tell Xavier how stupid he was. Erik was the only person with enough balls to do it.
What was Charles thinking? All figure skaters knew which moves were banned from the ice. The backflip was probably the most dangerous stunt and for good reason. The fact that Charles thought he could get away with it spoke volumes about his arrogance. Stupid little rich boy.
When the elevator door opened, Darwin was standing on the other side. Erik cursed under his breath as he scrambled to his feet. Nobody was supposed to see him like that.
“Look,” he sighed pitifully, and Erik hated that. “I know I’m just a lowly assistant and you’re a world famous figure skater so my words don’t really hold much weight. But it seems to me that you’re really worried about Charles. I mean, everyone is but it’s for all the wrong reasons. They’re trying to get close to Charles so they can have a viral moment on TikTok. But you…you’re concerned for all the right reasons. Why not go see him again? See for yourself how he’s doing?”
“I don’t care how he’s doing.” Erik refused to confirm nor deny Darwin’s allegation. Lying was easier. He walked past him and headed for his room. “I’m tired. I’m going to eat and relax for the rest of the night. Hold my calls and emails. See that I’m not bothered.”
“Noted. Goodnight.”
Darwin wasn’t surprised that Erik refused to talk about it. He had a fortress around his heart. He wasn’t big on sharing his emotions. Keeping people at arm’s length at this point of his career was the smart thing to do. It was essential now that he was internationally famous. Too many times did people try to exploit him, so it became natural to be distrustful. Getting close to people wasn’t safe.
When Erik stepped inside his room, he walked to his bed and collapsed face first. He didn’t even have the energy to get undressed. He crawled under his comforter after turning the lights out, praying to Gott that Charles Xavier didn’t invade his dreams.
Three hours later, Erik was back at the hospital.
It wasn’t his fault. Xavier had somehow made his way into Erik’s head and stayed there. Their tryst in Tokyo didn’t help matters either even though they didn’t go all the way, but even before then, Erik knew there was something magnetic about Charles, no matter how much he hated to admit it. The way Charles was always nice to everyone despite the poor way the media treated him, the way he looked on the bright side of things, the way he could draw a crowd with that adorable, beaming smile of his…damn him for making Erik falter.
If push came to shove, then Erik could just blame his visit on the charm. Or the cuteness. Mein Gott, what the hell was he doing?
The paps were at the main entrance (of course, because these people didn’t have a life outside of harassing celebrities) so Erik went over to a second entrance over by the heart center near the back of the hospital. There were less people there and since Erik was wearing a black hoodie, it wasn’t very easy to identify him.
Until he went to the front desk, of course.
“I’m sorry sir, but visiting hours are closed,” the receptionist told him. “If you’d like, you can come back tomorrow morning at 8am.”
Her accent didn’t sound like she was from around here, but what did Erik know? This was his first time in Dublin. His hoodie was pretty much hiding most of his face, so he wasn’t surprised that she couldn’t recognize him when he approached the desk. Once he pulled the hood off, the receptionist wanted to scream, but Erik pressed a finger to his lips. “Shhhh…..” he whispered to her, leaning in. “If you let me in, I’ll make it worth your while.”
The receptionist opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. Erik was used to this kind of reaction from people. After a few moments of awkward silence she finally said: “You’re so hot.”
“Thank you,” he grinned, cursing mentally when he felt his face heat up. Erik hated flattery and hated how his body reacted the opposite of how he wanted it to react. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome, handsome,” she purred, brushing a finger across the back of Erik’s hand. “How can I help you cutie?”
“I just need clearance to see Charles Xavier,” he said, trying to sound less eager than he felt. “Is that okay?”
“Now Erik,” she teased, pointing an accusatory finger at him playfully. “You were being a naughty little boy earlier today and I was told by Miss Darkholme and security not to let you in.
“I know but…” Erik took a page from Charles’ book and attempted his version of puppy dog eyes. “I feel really bad about it. I just wanted to go see Charles and apologize. I won’t be long. Please?”
The receptionist—who’s name was Ororo—couldn’t help but melt after that, being mesmerized by Erik’s blue-green eyes and ginger beard. She nodded, entranced and under the spell of Erik’s presence. After that, she gave him clearance upstairs.
While he was in the elevator, Erik did feel a little guilty that he had to lie and manipulate his way to Charles’ room. But if he didn’t speak to the little shit soon, he wasn’t going to be able to rest. He threw his hood over his head again so as not to draw attention to himself once he got on the fifth floor. Ororo told him that Charles was transferred to a private sector in which he needed a code and she gave him that code. Erik promised her that if she got in trouble, that he would take the blame.
This floor was different from the others, which Erik guessed it would be. He was sure Charles paid extra for privacy which was another reason Erik felt conflicted. The corridors were long and dimly lit. It felt like no one was around. Charles’ room was at the very end of the hall next to floor to ceiling glass panel windows. The place looked too clean to walk through.
Erik was a bit taken back when he saw that his hand was trembling once he reached up to punch in the code to the door. He wasn’t sure if Raven was inside with Charles, but Erik was in too deep to back out now.
He entered the code and stepped in.
The first thing Erik noticed was that the room was too big and too colorless. There were double penthouse windows everywhere that came with blackout curtains. The curtains were the only type of color in the room whereas everything else—the TV stand, food tray, the monitors keeping track of Charles’ vitals, the floor, the ceiling—everything was white. Erik felt like he was in a mental hospital, his breath shaky as he tried to be as calm as possible.
Raven wasn’t in the room. In fact, no one was. Charles was all alone, lying in a king size bed that looked like it could fit about three people. There was a white privacy curtain pulled forward to hide him, but Erik could still see his shadow. Charles was sitting up, watching TV.
Watching himself on TV. Of course.
Unfortunately, the channel was showing footage of Charles falling on the ice after he performed the illegal one-legged backflip. Because for some reason he was a gottverdammt lunatic who liked to witness his own downfall like some kind of masochistic drug fix.
Erik was trying to avoid watching this very thing all day. The TVs in the hospital waiting room, countless screens on people’s phones in which Charles’ face was on the forefront of most of them, the TV at the hotel lobby, the magazines on the table—it didn’t matter. Charles was fucking everywhere. Being a 3 time Olympian came with a lot of publicity and stardom. Why then, was Charles willingly watching it all go up in smoke with one lapse in judgment?
“I should’ve listened to you before.”
Erik nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Charles speak. How did he even know Erik was here? He was as quiet as a mouse, not making a sound. How could Charles hear Erik’s footsteps in this mammoth of a room?
His heart jumped in his throat as he took two tiny steps toward the curtain. Erik could see Charles’ head turning toward him, but the barrier between them still concealed his face. It was a perfect representation of their entire relationship, Erik thought bitterly. There was always something getting in the way of them being close. Why would this be any different?
“It’s okay. I know it’s you. I can’t explain it but I could…feel you here. You don’t have to hide behind the curtain, Erik. I want to see you.”
That didn’t make him feel any better. Charles knew he was here? What was he, psychic? He could only take two more tiny steps but his skin was brushing against what Erik could feel was a very high thread count curtain. To his surprise he could hear a soft chuckle come from Charles, instantaneously making Erik’s face turn a little red without his permission.
The curtain pulled back slowly without Erik touching it.
A moment later he was caught by the most gorgeous pair of blue eyes Erik had ever seen. The rest of Charles’ poor head was covered in bandages, but it seemed obsolete compared to how those pretty eyes were—they were so unreal. Charles had dark circles and he looked a bit underweight, but somehow it still didn’t take away from his beauty. But it was quite dreadful seeing him in this delicate state and Erik couldn’t fully look him in the eye. Charles reached out to touch Erik’s hand, and he couldn’t help but go to him when Charles slowly entwined their fingers together and pulled Erik in bed with him.
“I have no earthly idea how you got past security but part of me isn’t surprised. You’re a top figure skater for a reason. You never do anything half arsed.” Charles brushed a hand over the nape of Erik’s neck, lightly scratching his scalp and Erik’s knees almost buckled when he was hit with the sudden burst of serotonin. He didn’t want Charles to see how pitiful he was, so he buried his face into Charles’ neck, his body half draped over him and his other half on the bed. Erik’s shoulders released all the tension they were holding the entire day and he felt like a deflated balloon in Charles’ arms once his cheek lay on Charles’ shoulder.
Erik went soft and pliant, feeling more tension leave his body as Charles was massaging his scalp. Charles pulled him even closer and Erik’s body slid over him like a blanket. Charles pulled the comforter over them, leaving one of Erik’s legs sticking out.
“Don’t worry. No one know you’re here…” Charles spoke as if he was worried that someone outside of this bubble would eavesdrop. “I’ll make sure no one knows you were here.”
“Even after I yelled at you this morning?”
Erik wasn’t sure if Charles could understand him while his eyes were pressed against his throat and his lips under his jawline. “I know you weren’t really mad at me. That’s why I was hoping that you’d come back. You were one of the few people I actually wanted to see.”
“Really?” Erik asked before putting any thought behind how eager he sounded saying that. This was so embarrassing. He came here with all intents and purposes of yelling at Charles because he did something so careless, but when he got here, seeing Charles lie so helpless in bed turned Erik into mush. Now he just wanted to keep Charles close and make sure Charles was okay. Erik didn’t like that his feelings about Charles were starting to betray him; Starting to show. With the championship just around the corner, Erik couldn’t afford such a beautiful distraction.
“Mhmm…I should’ve known what you said to me back in Tokyo would come back and bite me in the arse.”
“I said a lot of things that I shouldn’t have…” Erik then had a flashback of watching Charles fall on the ice. The fear and panic he felt after seeing that was going to haunt his memories for a long time. “That didn’t mean you weren’t a total dummkopf for what you did.”
Erik felt Charles deflate a bit. “I know…”
“Hast du eine ahnung, wie viel angst ich hatte?” Erik squeezed Charles closer to his chest. “Ich dachte du…”
“Erik…” When he felt Erik’s arms go around him tighter, Charles choked back a sob. He wished he had an explanation for why he changed up everything that he and Raven worked on together for months now and decided to do a move that was banned since 1976. Charles let his hubris get the better of him, and being on top gave him an air of immunity, a false sense of security. Plus, the fact that the whole world was watching him and that world included Erik…
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I let the fame get to my head and thought I was above reproach. I let my mother’s negative thoughts turn me petty and vindictive and I wanted to show her that I was better than her bigotry, better than her unfair criticism and judgment. I wanted to show her that she was wrong when she said that I would never make it in figure skating.”
“And now I’ve messed up. I’ve messed up badly and now I’m not sure if I can come back from such a loss…”
And that was what freaked Charles out the most. What if he could never recover from this? What if the brain damage was too much? He was somewhat happy now that he wasn’t facing Erik. The corners of his eyes stung and he didn’t want Erik to see him like that.
“Nonsense,” he whispered against Charles’ hair. “You’ll come back.”
I can’t wait for the day he slips up and the world finds out that he’s not perfect.
No…no, not now, dammit. Erik shook his head, cursing when Shaw’s stupid voice came back when he didn’t need to hear it. At the time that Shaw said it, it sounded like a good idea. Erik fantasized about Charles doing something that would ruin his perfect winning streak and he would finally come out on top for once.
But now that it’s happened…Erik felt no satisfaction at all.
“Erik…what’s wrong my friend? Why are you shaking your head?” Charles tried to get Erik to lift his head up to look at him, but Erik didn’t want Charles to see him like this. Vulnerable, despaired, afraid—Charles got hurt and it freaked Erik out so badly, he didn’t know what to do.
Getting angry seemed like the logical thing to do. But now Erik knew that it was fear hiding under all that anger.
“Erik?” Charles tried again to hold Erik’s face and pull him up, but he was too resistant. “If you came all the way over here to cuddle me, at least take your shoes off.”
And he didn’t know how Erik did it, but he was able to slip them off without using his hands. He took his big toe, went inside and pushed the shoes off that way. Once Erik did that, he moved behind Charles on the bed and wrapped his arms around Charles’ middle. “Is that better?” He asked amusedly.
“It would be even better if you would just let me turn around to face you. I just want to see you, Erik…”
That wasn’t going to happen. Not when Erik felt like he was going to break if Charles saw him like this. Nobody saw this side of Erik, not even Shaw. Not even his parents…
Eventually Charles just accepted that the stubborn arse wasn’t going to face him. “So…you risked getting kicked out again just to cuddle me? That doesn’t sound like the Erik Lehnsherr I know.”
He was right. What was happening to him? Just a few weeks ago, Erik loathed Charles’ existence. And now he was in a hospital in Ireland, squeezing him like the rest of the world didn’t matter.
“It’s your fault,” he grumbled, still talking into Charles’ hair. God, it shouldn’t have been this soft. “If you weren’t so gottverdammt nice and gave people the clothes off your back, I wouldn’t care. Maybe if you stopped being so personable, witty, funny and relatable, I wouldn’t be here. If you weren’t so bloody amazing on the ice—“
“Erik,” Charles couldn’t help but giggle, “You’re beating yourself up because you find me attractive. Do you hear how silly that sounds?”
“Stop being so fucking cute and maybe I wouldn’t be this way,” Erik snorted, the air from his muffled snort blowing gently against Charles’ neck. “You’re doing a good job in distracting me from winning that gold.”
“Must not be that important if you snuck behind your coach’s back to come see me.”
“Fuck Shaw.” And Erik’s body clenched after he realized what he just said. “I mean…it’s not like I ever miss practice. He won’t even know I’m here.”
“But the paparazzi will, my friend.”
“Fuck them, too.”
“We’re going to have to do something about that potty mouth of yours.”
“Oh yeah?” Erik grabbed Charles’ wrists and pinned them to the bed, but keeping his head injury in mind so he wasn’t as rough as he was in Tokyo. Charles looked surprised and confused, looking up at Erik, who was now on top of him. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Erik…” Charles laughed, but he sounded nervous, his throat bobbing up and down as he swallowed a lump. He was used to Erik pinning his arms or his wrists down so he couldn’t escape, and normally Charles wouldn’t like being restricted and bound, but for some reason…he liked it with Erik.
Erik didn’t know what he was doing or why he was doing this. He just knew that Charles got under his skin, in the worst way, in the best way, even in ways he didn’t understand. He brushed Charles’ hair away from his face, as gently as possible. “Does it hurt? Your head, I mean.”
Charles, with those gorgeous eyes, shook his head minutely. “Right now it doesn’t.”
“I know it hasn’t been…easy, watching what the world has been saying about you. It’s never easy knowing there are people out there who wait on you to fail. And I was one of those people. Even though I got just as much attention and praise as you, everyone referred to me as ‘runner up’ and my coach would have no problem reminding me that it wasn’t good enough for him. Constantly threatening to quit on me if I didn’t beat you. I think that’s why…” Erik paused and sighed, looking away from Charles. “Why I had so much animosity toward you. You winning meant that I was losing, and Shaw would take it out on me. Punishing me. And then in turn, I would take it out on you. And it wasn’t right…” Erik sighed again, looking back up at Charles, at those ethereal eyes that made Erik feel like he was drowning in the ocean. “Es tut mir leid. Es tut mir leid….”
“Come here,” Charles murmured, and Erik let go of his other wrist, allowing Charles to wrap his arms around Erik’s shoulder blades and pull him in. Erik went willingly, resting his lower body on top of Charles so that his back wouldn’t strain. “It’s okay, my friend. I’m not mad. I understand. I knew that deep down, you were good. I’ve always sensed the good in you, Erik. No matter how much your coach tried to break it, you never let him take it from you.”
“I couldn’t…even though he was all I had…at the time. I didn’t like my circumstance with Shaw, but it was either stay with him, or starve on the streets. And he knew that.”
“You don’t have to explain…believe me, I know all about not having your parents around…you and everyone else may think of me as a privileged, spoiled brat, but I’d trade my family for yours any day.”
“Mmmm.” Erik didn’t know how they got on this subject, but he didn’t want to continue, because that wasn’t why he was here. Charles’ future in figure skating was at stake here. “Let’s talk about that at a later date. When you’re cleared to skate again.”
“Later date…?” Charles gasped a little, pushing up on Erik’s shoulders so that they could have eye contact. “Are you saying you want to see me again outside of the ice?”
“Like I said, it’s your fault that I’m like this,” Erik murmured, his arms straight and hands planted on either side of Charles’ head. “I think you cast a spell on me or something. Making me feel things that I don’t want to.”
“Maybe I did,” Charles grinned, reaching up to brush a piece of hair from Erik’s face and behind his ear. “Maybe all of the showboating that I do is because I know you’re watching me.”
Erik wasn’t looking at Charles when he said that, but then he looked at him almost right away after that. Charles blushed, wishing the painkillers he took didn’t make him so loopy and didn’t make him say things he wished he could take back. But instead of being upset about it, the side of Erik’s mouth pulled up into a smirk. “I knew you were trying to impress me.”
“Shut up,” Charles pouted and crossed his arms. He tried to look mad, but when Erik brushed his thumb across his cheek, Charles faltered and smiled. “Don’t rub it in or anything.”
“I don’t need to. Knowing that you did that backflip just for me will give me enough of an ego stroke to last the rest of the year. However…” without warning, Erik took Charles’ wrists again and he gasped as Erik pinned them down on the mattress, over his head. “Don’t you ever do that again. Understood?” Erik tried to look stern, but his face quickly turned worried, concerned. “I don’t think I can…I don’t want to see…”
“Oh Erik…” Charles wriggled a bit and Erik got the hint to let his wrists go so that he could pull him in for another hug. Erik went willingly again, turning over on his side this time and taking Charles with him so that he could hug Charles back. Now they were facing each other, their legs entwined and the sheets a tangled mess on the bed. “I won’t. I promise.”
Erik could only nod because he didn’t trust his voice. He was scared, so scared when he saw Charles fall and hit his head. He didn’t realize how much he cared until then. Not being around Shaw’s influence helped him think with a clear head.
And then Charles asked in the softest tone. “Stay with me?”
It was the first time in Charles’ career that he must have felt so helpless. Erik deduced that it was why he wanted a private room. Charles didn’t want any visitors except Erik, Raven, the doctor and the nurses. He didn’t want anyone else to see him like this. The paparazzi, reporters and certainly not his fans. Erik knew it was due to Charles’ pride, a certain image that he wanted to maintain in front of them even if Erik thought it was a bit silly.
“You’re not worried about Raven or anyone else catching us in here together?” Erik asked. “People would pay thousands of dollars to see us in bed together.”
“They would, and I’m not.” Charles yawned and Erik didn’t think he could look any more adorable. When he stretched, it was then that Erik noticed the IV in Charles’ arm. He didn’t like it one bit.
“Don’t give me that look, darling. I’ll be fine. I promise. I won’t get hospitalized again. After all, who else is going to beat you on the podium?”
“I wouldn’t get too cocky if I were you,” Erik snorted. His smile quickly faded when he looked down at the IV again. “How badly are you injured?”
“Just a concussion. But I was also severely dehydrated, which may have explained why I tripped in the first place. It’s likely that I became lightheaded, dizzy and lost my balance. When I did that backflip, everything just turned black.”
It also meant that the news reporters exaggerated his injury. A lot. Charles did fall on the ice but he most certainly did not crack his skull. It explained why there were so many hysterical fans in the hospital, and why Raven wanted public relations to release a statement as soon as they could.
“So…is that a yes or no?” Charles asked him.
Erik snorted. “You think I came all this way just to spend a measly two hours with you? It’s almost 10. Might as well spend the night.” He ran his fingers through Charles’ hair. “What, you think I wouldn’t want to?”
Charles looked away shyly, clenching his jaw when Erik took the same thumb from earlier and pressed it into his cheek. “Sometimes I can’t figure out how you feel.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because at the banquet, when we were…” Charles blushed and looked over at the TV. “…intimate, you never kissed me. Not once.”
He knew the subject would come up eventually. Erik tilted Charles’ chin up so he had to look at him. “Because I knew if I did, I wouldn’t…be able to stop.” Erik wet his lips and leaned in closer, making Charles look down at his mouth, his breath picking up speed. “When it comes to you, I don’t know how to stop. I had to set a boundary so that I wouldn’t…lose control.” Erik darted his eyes away, embarrassed. “And I wasn’t sure if you even wanted me to kiss you.” Mein Gott, what am I saying?
“I do,” Charles said breathlessly. “I did. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kiss someone so badly before in my life.”
Erik could hear Charles’ heart rate pick up speed on the monitor. He gently cupped his cheek as he leaned in toward him, noticing that his own heart was thumping, along with his cock. And right before their lips touched, the keypad to the door made a noise, indicating that someone was coming in.
“Shit!” Erik moved off the bed and ran into the bathroom. Charles’ heart monitor beeped even faster, not to mention his hair was in disarray and his cock was hard and poking through his sheets. He only had about five seconds to preen himself.
“Charles?” Raven’s stiletto boots clashed loudly on the white pristine floor, creating an echo that seemed to bounce off the walls. “Everything okay? I thought I heard voices.”
“I think you may be delirious from lack of sleep, my dear,” he laughed nervously, his hands covering his hard-on. “Seriously, Raven. You’ve been here all day. You’re going to run yourself ragged if you don’t rest. These past couple of hours have been hard on both of us. Just go back to the hotel, okay?”
Raven eyed him suspiciously, crossing her arms. “Erik hasn’t been back here, has he?”
“No.” Charles felt bad about lying to his closest friend. “Shaw would probably lose the plot if he did.”
“Better him than me I guess.” Raven then sighed before leaning in and kissing Charles on the forehead. “Fine. You get some sleep too. And stop doom watching the news for fuck’s sake.” She turned off the TV with the remote and placed it on the table so that Charles couldn’t reach. “Go to sleep. Text me your statement for tomorrow.”
“Sure thing, my dear.”
Once she left, Erik came out about two minutes later. Charles smiled as he crawled back in bed with him, holding him from behind. He didn’t say anything though and Charles didn’t want to ruin the moment by asking to pick up where they left off. With everything going on around them, it was better to take it slow.
“Later.”
“Hmm?”
“Later,” Erik murmured. “We’ll talk later.”
“Okay.” Charles couldn’t stop smiling after that. As a matter of fact, that’s the last thing he remembered doing before drifting off to sleep.