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Things had finally been looking up between Charles and Erik. They had moved to Genosha together not long after Charles left the school and Erik had tracked him down. Both were more than ready to spend the remainder of their lives together on the island. There would be no more Magneto, no more Professor X. The hurt, heartache, pain, and anger were to be left behind. From then on out they were going to just be Erik and Charles.
They both learned quickly how lovely their time together would be. Late nights were spent sitting together on the back deck of their little home, overlooking the ocean. They’d bring the chess table out and each have a drink. More often than not the chess game was forgotten as the two talked and watched the stars or got lost in each other and then love.
Mornings were spent together in their bed, wrapped up in sheets and blankets and each other. There was no place Erik would rather be than in their bed with Charles in his arms, except maybe in their bed in Charles’s arms. They’d spend a little too long every morning just laying in, not even sleeping. Some mornings Erik would get up and make tea and some breakfast for the two of them which he would bring back to bed and they’d eat together.
It was really surprising that the two of them hadn’t tired of each other quickly, as much time as they were spending in each other’s company. Perhaps, though, it came down to the decades of time they’d spent in love with each other but apart. They were making up for lost time, in a way, and refusing to lose even a second more.
Anywhere they could go together, they would. There were occasional meetings for the island to discuss where things were going, politics, and what they should be doing. Of course, in those moments, the other inhabitants of the island got a little peak of the old Magneto and Professor X as they disagreed, but that never stopped them. As soon as it was over, they were going back to their home side by side.
Any gathering held on the island for fun like birthday parties or holidays, Charles and Erik showed up together and were never seen one without the other. Not unless one had stepped away for the bathroom or to grab them both a drink. They were truly attached at the hip.
Or, rather, attached at the mind. From the second Charles and Erik arrived on the island together, Charles had been in Erik’s mind. It was a feeling he relished in. He loved every second of his lover being there, knowing he was around, sharing the space.
Charles had been wrong for all those years, thinking that was why Erik was trying to keep him out. The true reason was the fear of Charles finding out just how much Erik cared. He loved Charles but didn’t know Charles felt the same—though apparently, he was the only one—he worried what would happen if Charles did discover his true feelings. Besides, it terrified Erik to care for anyone. He didn’t know what to do with all of those feelings and emotions, let alone what to do if someone else found out about them.
Now, though, it was hard to believe there was a time they didn’t live like this, so fully intertwined with each other. Erik felt like a lovesick teenager but he was a man—at this point—well into his seventies with his partner just a year or so behind him. They were far from their teenage years. The teenagers now looked upon him and Charles as though they were strange, even when the kids were doing the same thing they were. It was as though they were supposed to outgrow the phase but Erik had learned long ago that his love for Charles was no phase.
“What are you thinking about?” Charles asked, quietly as Erik slipped into bed next to him.
“You know what I’m thinking about,” Erik replied softly, pressing a kiss to Charles’s nose before lying down next to him.
“Careful, don’t catch whatever I have,” Charles warned softly but Erik wasn’t going to stop or stay away from Charles. Not now, not ever.
When they had woken up that morning, Charles hadn’t been feeling well, saying he was still tired and a little achy. The weather had recently turned a little, not getting as warm through the days and getting colder at night. They both figured that could explain away the way he was feeling, the beginning of a cold. Either way, he had spent the day in bed, resting with Erik carrying their meals into their bedroom, and checking up on the man while he was there.
“You know if you’re sick, I’ve already got it, Schatz,” Erik said softly, brushing his thumb over Charles’s cheek. “How are you feeling?”
“Worse than this morning,” Charles said in a quiet voice and Erik couldn’t help but scoot closer to him, wrapping his arms around his love, and holding him close to his chest.
“Is there anything you need? Anything that could help?” He asked, pressing a kiss to the top of Charles’s head.
Charles shook his head, “No, just this. This is all I ever need,” He replied quietly and Erik smiled a little, feeling the same way.
“When you’re feeling better,” Erik said quietly, “I think we should go down to the beach. There’s something I want to show you and with the leaves starting to change, it’s beautiful. We’ll have to make sure to wrap you up well first, get out some of your sweaters that you’ve finally grown into.”
“Are you calling me old?” Charles asked in a weak but amused voice and Erik only smiled more.
“Schatz, I’m older than you are, but I’m afraid we’ve both made it to old age now,” Erik replied, “Plus, they’ll protect you from the weather.” It was strange, the weather in New York never seemed to much affect Charles, and it was always warmer in Genosha than it was there. There was never snow in Genosha, even if it did cool down by ten or fifteen degrees in the change of the seasons. Erik should really look into reinforcing the house, and making sure it’s properly insulated. That could be part of the problem and Erik didn’t want to be the reason Charles got sick at all, let alone any sicker than he currently was.
Erik waited to hear a reply from the man in his arms but then he realized his breathing had evened out. He had fallen asleep to Erik’s voice and seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
With a small smile on his face—the way Erik had never slept until he had found Charles for the last time—he drifted off as well. The night passed around the two of them as they slept on.
The next morning, Erik opened his eyes and the smile was right back on his face as he saw Charles, still in his arms, still asleep. He pressed a kiss against his bald head and started to move his arm out from under the man when he paused. Something was wrong.
It took Erik a moment—a moment he blamed on shock—to realize what it was. For the first time in over a decade, he was alone in his mind. Not only that, Charles, against his arm, wasn't stirring, wasn’t moving at all.
Wasn’t breathing.
Erik moved faster than he should’ve to lay a hand against Charles’s chest, only realizing how stiff the man was a little too late. There was no breathing at all, and his skin was rapidly cooling when exposed to the morning air, no longer in Erik’s arms, no longer under the blankets where Erik had been keeping him warm.
Erik was breathing heavily as he checked Charles’s pulse and couldn’t find anything. It just confirmed what he already knew to be true.
Tears were pouring from his face as he gathered Charles up in his arms once again and held him close. His mind was refusing to believe that he was truly gone. He couldn’t accept it, even if he knew it was true. For over fifty years, Charles had been in his life, at least in the smallest of ways. Even if it was just Erik knowing the man was still out there and now…now Erik was alone.
He laid back down on the bed and pulled the covers back up over the two of them, Charles in his arms. He couldn’t let Charles get cold, he couldn’t allow that to happen. He had been taking care of him, caring for him, loving him. How could he just let him freeze?
“I love you, Charles,” Erik whispered through his tears, realizing that he didn’t get the chance to tell him the night before. The last thing Charles had heard was Erik calling him old. Not that he was loved, that he found Charles beautiful, nothing that Erik had wanted him to know, wanted to tell him one last time. “I love you. I’ve never stopped, I will never stop.”
There was only one thing Erik could think of to do now. He hadn’t had to live without Charles in so long. There were so few years he had to live without Charles even before they met. He couldn’t go back to then, he couldn’t subject himself to that again.
With a small movement of his hand, an almost forgotten box under his bed opened up and a small pistol floated out. Erik knew what he had to do—what he wanted to do. He’d be with Charles again, put out of a life of misery.