Archive of Our Own ^beta

Shouts outside and the shaking of the walls made Erik stand up abruptly from his chair at the dining table. He had gotten up so quickly that his coffee spilled over and covered his hand. Raven rushed out of the kitchen to Erik, her expression alarmed.

"What was that?"

Erik put down his coffee and made his way out with long, quick strides, "'We'll find out now"

Raven followed him with quick steps as they made their way outside. It was afternoon, the sun was beating down on the estate and outside Charles had been training with Hank, Alex and Sean. Raven and Erik had stayed inside to train in the gym.

A bad premonition settled in his stomach as Erik burst through the door to the outside and heard excited chatter not far from the balcony. Raven behind him was the first to see Charles.

"Charles! What happened?" She rushed past Erik, who looked past her and was surprised to find Charles on the ground a few meters in front of him.

He was sitting on the grass, Hank was helping him to his feet. There was a sheepish grin on the professor's face and even though he swayed a little, he found himself steady on his feet. Even though his clothes had a few stains, Erik couldn't find any visible injuries as he made his way towards the other.

Erik stayed behind while Raven was already examining her brother from top to bottom. He noticed Charles visibly biting back some signs of pain. A hiss escaped his throat as he gripped his sister's arms to make her stop patting him down.

"Please Raven I'm fine. Sean just wasn't paying attention and flew a little too close to the house" Charles pointed to some roof tiles around them, "They fell off"

Hank, who was standing behind Charles, searched for Erik's gaze and when their eyes met he just nodded towards Charles. A sign that he wasn't being completely honest with his sister. Erik nodded with a strained exhalation to show that he had understood Hank.

"I think it's time to call it a day," Erik said, and it seemed as if Charles had only just noticed him.

Charles opened his mouth in surprise, looking at Hank for help, and Erik realized that the professor had paused briefly in his rash, quick movement, narrowing his eyes quickly. As if the quick movement was painful.

"I wanted to show Hank-" but Erik interrupted him.

"Now, Charles. It's time to make dinner anyway. If I remember correctly, it's Raven and Hank's turn today." At Erik's words, Raven and Hank groaned in annoyance at the same time.

Charles was thus prevented from making any further objections. While the kids made their way into the house, already arguing about what they were going to do, Erik and Charles stayed behind. The birds were chirping in the distance and the sun was shining directly on Charles' face, making his eyes light up.

"You're overworking yourself," Erik said into the gentle silence, slowly approaching Charles.

Even though the sun was shining on them eagerly, it was cold and without warmth. But coming closer to Charles, he seemed to be a good substitute for the sun. Radiating warmth and comfort.

"Nonsense." Charles' laughed in disbelief, searching the other's gaze with a smile, "I just like practicing with the kids."

"Yes. But you do too much. You need to think about yourself, too, get some rest and train yourself."

Charles scoffed, "Thanks for your worries but I get enough sleep and my powers can't get rusty."

With those words, the professor crossed his arms in front of his chest and began to make his way inside with slow but long strides. He didn't wait for Erik, leaving the other outside alone.

Erik rubbed his hand on his temple and looked thoughtfully after Charles. He searched his thoughts for ways to get through the other man's thick skull. Charles was often just far too stubborn for his own good.

~~

After dinner, Erik made a detour to Charles' bedroom. For a moment he thought about knocking, but then Charles would have had a chance to hide something he didn't want Erik to see.

Without warning and hoping Charles was too lost in his own thoughts to sense him, Erik yanked the door open and received a startled yelp in response from the other end of the room.

Sure enough, Charles stood in front of him in his sleeping pants and bare torso, shocked at Erik's lack of manners.

"I knew it" growled Erik and without hesitation went after Charles, who was only more puzzled and turning red.

"Erik- What...What are you doing here?" Charles tried to flee from the other but only bumped into the cupboard behind him, visibly inhaling sharply.

Erik stopped in front of Charles, about a step in front of him. His hand was outstretched, almost touching the other, but he held himself back. Instead, he held out his hand, gesturing towards the large bruise that ran along Charles' shoulder blade.

Charles turned his head and let out a sigh, his tense posture relaxing as he realized why Erik had stormed in so angrily.

"You got hurt," Erik said, walking closer to Charles, his hand hovering closer like a question.

Charles didn't push him back, but waited like a guilty dog as Erik slowly touched the bruise. A soft hiss escaped him. The warm skin stiffened under Erik's touch, the fine hairs on the back of Charles' neck rising.

As soon as Erik's gaze flickered upwards, he saw the blue eyes burning on his body. They were calculating, perhaps questioning. He lost himself in the eyes, which softened immediately as they had a pair of gray-blue eyes to meet. Carefully, Erik stroked the soft and warm skin beneath his fingertips once more.

An unspoken question burned in his eyes. Like an expectation, a hope that Erik understood him without words, without telepathy. That the unexplained connection to each other and knowing of the other was enough to read thoughts without any mutations. That in his eyes and the way his lips moved, every muscle in his body shifting, Erik knew exactly what Charles wanted from him.

Cautiously, Erik approached, waiting for some kind of invitation. Instead, Charles continued to watch him, lips pressed together and eyes vigilantly monitoring his every move. Slowly, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss right next to Charles' lips, who closed his eyes in relief.

Even after Erik pulled away, Charles' eyes were still closed. An unspoken invitation for more. For more affection, more closeness and more kisses. Erik suppressed an amused laugh at the thought and continued to press gentle, short kisses down the other man's naked neck to his bruise. He stopped there, pulling back.

His hands cupped Charles' cheeks and his eyes flickered briefly before closing again as Erik placed a kiss directly on Charles' lips. The professor responded with a tired but happy hum.

"Let's go to bed, shall we?" Erik murmured into the kiss.

Charles was the first to pull away from the kiss. For a moment he had thought about the words, Erik had imagined the wheels in his head spinning and twisting. Blue eyes fixed intently on a spot in the void, a professor threatening to be sucked in by his mind.

"I'm fine," Charles finally managed to throw at him, squirming past Erik and putting on the shirt he had been holding in his hands.

"I still think you should rest more..." Erik replied.

He turned to the other, his voice had trembled slightly with concern.

In fact, Charles looked like he was considering it for a moment. Erik's tone had made him stop, a frown on his handsome face. He seemed to think for more than three seconds about rest. About more sleep, the possibility that Erik would take care of him and fewer aches and pains in his body at the end of the day.

A wrinkle formed on Charles' face as he thought, looking into Erik's face. As if he was taking Erik apart piece by piece in his mind. Separating muscle fibers and disassembling the brain into all its individual parts.

And then, to Erik's disappointment, the wrinkle disappeared and Charles returned to reality.

"We've got too much to do..." Charles said simply, an apologetic smile on his lips.

Erik watched as heavy thoughts and responsibilities settled back on Charles' shoulders. In his bright eyes sat the ticking time, the fact that they would soon be facing Shaw and needed to be prepared. As did the responsibility he placed on his shoulders. That the success of these kids, and of them, depended on him alone. Losing them would mean that Charles was to blame, that he hadn't prepared them properly.

He knew this because Charles had told him all this before.

One night when they both couldn't sleep, Charles had taken him to his secret place on the roof. They had sat there for a long time, looking out over the estate and talking about everything and nothing.

"Maybe it's a bit selfish to think that I'm responsible for everything..." Charles had said to him then with an uncertain laugh and had avoided his gaze to look up at the sky.

As if he would find something there that would help him.

At the time, Charles had been worried that Erik would judge him for it, but it only made him do the opposite. Erik admired him for it. Charles had great love for these kids and treated Erik with so much empathy and trust. He threw himself into preparing the kids as best he could because he loved them and could never forgive himself for their deaths.

Erik knew he was already struggling with this. That sometimes, when he was tired and unfocused, Charles projected reproaches and memories of Darwin. The wave of guilt that hit Erik was so full of emotion that it almost knocked the air out of his body.

"Think about it," Erik finally said as Charles turned to leave.

The professor often helped Hank out in the lab after dinner. Be it with manual or theoretical work. Erik had no idea if Charles slept at all, as active as he was during the night.

Charles paused before walking through the door, a thought flitting across his face within a second before a smile settled on it, "Let's play chess tomorrow night."

Erik nodded eagerly and then remained alone in Charles' room as he heard the footsteps moving away from him. The worry that lay on his chest didn't seem any lighter after this.

~~

Erik couldn't sleep that night, as was often the case. Falling asleep wasn't really the problem, only sometimes. Erik had much more trouble staying asleep for long and not being plagued by nightmares.

Erik quietly scurried out of his room, careful not to let any doors creak or step on the noisy spots in the wooden floor. For as old as this mansion was, it was also full of squeaks and creaks when you moved around in it.

The house was quiet, the clocks in the hallway read just after 4 o'clock in the morning. Erik was actually on his way down to the kitchen to get something to drink, but a light at the end of the hallway made him stop.

Charles' study and the library were back there. He wouldn't be surprised if the professor was awake, deeply immersed in his world of fancy words and thick books. Sometimes Erik wondered if it was normal for academics to be up so late.

As he walked down the corridor, he had to admit that it made sense. The world was peaceful and quiet at night, no one seemed to disturb you as if you were all alone with yourself. The only person in the world. Perhaps the night was a kind of break for Charles. From the constant flow of thoughts that usually buzzed around him.

At night, he could focus completely on what interested him.

The light was indeed coming from the library. He had expected Charles to be awake when he entered the room. That he would look up from his book with a tired blink, almost as if he had just been immersed in a world of his own. Instead, the professor was asleep.

Arms hung down to his sides while his head was pillowed on a thick open book. On Charles' nose were reading glasses that not many people knew existed. The glasses had slipped uncomfortably in his sleep so that Erik almost feared he would bend them.

With quiet steps, Erik approached the sleeping man and carefully removed the glasses from his face without waking him. Charles actually stayed asleep. Even though it was incredibly difficult to get the chronic insomniac to sleep, once he was asleep, he was out like a light.

Erik paused for a moment, glasses in hand, to take in the scene before him. These things didn't happen rarely, had become a regular occurrence. Charles didn't go to bed, fell asleep in the strangest places around the house and either Erik found him beforehand to carry him to bed or the professor woke up in the morning with back and neck pain.

It seemed as if Charles had forgotten where his bed was.

Shaking his head, he maneuvered Charles out of the chair and into his arms. Carefully he dragged Charles out of the library, still careful not to make the doors and floor creak and not to bang Charles' body parts against a wall.

Slowly, he turned off the library light as he carried the other out the door and crept quietly down the empty and dark hallway towards Charles' room. Fortunately, Charles' room wasn't too far from his own and the others rooms were located downstairs.

"Hmmm..." Erik's heart nearly skipped a beat when he heard the sound of Charles.

The professor blinked sleepily at the other, visibly irritated and disturbed by the fact that the other was carrying him around in his arms.

"Go back to sleep, darling," Erik murmured and to his delight, Charles closed his eyes again.

~~

Erik

Erik abruptly stopped his steps and actions as if he were frozen. The feeling of having Charles' voice in his head still made him a little uneasy.

Erik, I apologize, said Charles in his head, but I need your help down in the bunker.

After the professor's words, some images flashed in Erik's mind. They appeared and disappeared quickly, causing Erik to stumble at the sight. Blood, a few flames and shocked, almost frightened looks from Alex. Only then did Erik realize that it was Charles' thoughts that he must have shared.

Erik's world briefly blurred before his eyes, his feet lost their grip on the ground. Together with the images, feelings of remorse and pain washed over him like a wave. With a startled gasp, he grabbed hold of the wall with his hands.

"Fuck, Charles. What have you done?" Erik gasped, overwhelmed.

That wasn't meant for your eyes...

Erik responded to Charles' words with a nod, even though he didn't know if the telepath could perceive it. Without hesitation, even if his steps were still unsteady, he made his way down. His heart was beating hard, the blood rushing through his body, making his ears ring at the mere thought that Charles might be injured.

Not caring to disturb the privacy of Hank or Raven, he stormed through the door of the labs. The perfect time to see Raven and Hank jump away from each other as if the other was poisonous.

Raven gave Erik a dirty look, about to say something, but Erik beat her to it.

"I think Charles and Alex are hurt. Get down to the bunker now."

Without waiting for an answer, Erik stormed out of the lab again, jumping with hurried steps to the elevators. Behind him, he heard Raven shouting, followed by hurried footsteps behind him. Raven and Hank caught up to him in the elevator and slid between closing doors to join Erik.

"What happened?" Raven urged, face contorted with worry, hands kneading each other anxiously.

"Training," Erik said, eyes fixed on the elevator doors as if they would open just a touch faster if he looked at them threatingly, "Charles didn't tell me much but he accidentally projected a few things."

Raven's eyes widened in surprise. She knew that if Charles accidentally started sharing his own thoughts while communicating telepathically, he wouldn't feel well. Hank remained silent, face creased in thought.

Downstairs, the doors to the bunker were already halfway open. Smoke drifted into the corridor en masse, absorbed by the ventilation around it. The first thing Erik noticed, however, was the strained coughing inside.

"Charles!" with the subplot of grabbing one of the many fire extinguishers on the wall, he ran inside.

In his head, he had prepared himself to pull both Charles and Alex unconscious from the flames. He imagined huge masses of fire and bodies covered in blood. Instead, the fire in the bunker had already been extinguished.

And Charles was standing in the middle of the huge hall, fire extinguisher already in hand, blood running down his left arm and temple. Alex was not far from him against the wall. At first glance, Erik couldn't see any blood or serious injuries on Alex, only that he looked like he had seen a ghost.

When Charles saw Erik, he dropped the fire extinguisher in his hand. Relief spread from his face through his body, his legs stumbling shakily towards Erik. Erik tried to catch him but Charles pushed him away, even though he was still swaying beside him.

"Don't-"

"You're hurt," Erik urged his hands shielding Charles, who was still swaying dangerously next to him.

Charles shook his head stubbornly, glancing past Erik to look at Hank and Raven, "Take Alex upstairs, examine him. I'm not getting checked until I know he's okay."

Hank and Raven didn't protest, running over to Alex. The kid just looked past them, seeming mentally on another planet. He didn't protest when Hank and Raven lifted him to his feet, just made pained noises.

It was then that Erik realized his palms were totally burned. When he looked back at Charles, his eyes were glaring at his palms. Remorseful tears glistened in his eyes, mingling with the blood running down his face.

Erik gently reached out a hand and stroked Charles' bloodless cheek. In doing so, he actually managed to get his flickering attention for a moment. Looks of guilt, self-loathing and shame hit him with the force of a truck as the other looked up at him.

"You were right," Charles gasped out, words that hurt his pride to utter. But what was pride worth when he had hurt others through it, "I pushed myself and the kids and I thought Alex was ready but..."

Charles broke off and let Erik pull him into a hug. Erik said nothing, sensing that the other wasn't finished talking, that he needed to get his worries off his chest before he was ready to hear words from others. Erik closed his eyes, stroking Charles' back while the other tried to catch his breath.

Erik felt Charles' rapidly rising and falling chest in his side.

"I thought he was ready and he lost control. One of his rings bounced off, everything happened so fast...crap. Erik, I feel terrible."

The professor buried his head in Erik's embrace. As if he could disappear there and never have to face the events of reality again.

They stayed like that for a moment, Erik using the time to give Charles the comfort he needed and to think of the best thing to say to him.

"I'm sure everything's fine," Erik murmured, nudging the other out of the embrace to urge him to move, "Let's get you cleaned up and then we'll go check on Alex okay?"

Charles, probably too tired and blood-deprived to fight back, just nodded. As they made their way to the elevator, Erik must have suffered about 10 heart attacks just from Charles wiggling so much next to him. Yet he strongly refused to be supported or carried.

"Don't you dare try to carry me. I'll make you think you're a duck for two weeks."

Erik grinned. An injured and grumpy Charles had little control over which thoughts he could and could not read.

"You wouldn't," Erik replied and shooed the professor into the elevator.

"Oh I most definitely would," Charles replied coolly, leaning against the wall of the elevator, eyes closed and a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

As soon as the doors closed, however, the smile was gone. Replaced by the feeling of guilt and pain coursing through his body.

~~

Alex was fine aside from a few burns and the shock he had suffered. Hank had dressed his wounds and put him to sleep on sedatives. Reluctantly, Charles had finally allowed himself to be treated.

While he was being stitched up on his temple and arm, he hadn't taken his eyes off Alex. The mutant slept at the other end of the infirmary in one of the beds. Hank had reasoned that he could keep a better eye on him if something else should happen.

It hadn't reassured Charles, of course. He had watched him with his lips pressed together and furrowed eyebrows, his face contorted only to share his discomfort about the pain. Erik, meanwhile, had been loitering near him, seeming particularly protective of him at the moment.

Charles tried not to think too much about the guilt, even if it was like a carousel whirling around in his mind. Or a broken record that you couldn't turn off.

As soon as Hank had taken care of him, Erik had dragged him out of the infirmary almost immediately. Straight towards Charles' room and into his bathroom.

The coolness of the bathroom had a calming effect. His whole body had felt electrified before, eaten away by soot and burning guilt on his skin. The coolness seemed to brush gently across his forehead, making him take a deep breath for the first time since the incident.

He felt Erik approach cautiously, and opened his eyes briefly to see the other leaning in front of him, a wet rag in his hand.

Can I?

was the unspoken language glittering in his eyes. And Charles was never one to deny Erik's touch. So he made a hint of a nod, too powerless to do it properly and with the ulterior motive that his head would only buzz more if he moved it too hastily.

Before the wet rag touched his skin, Charles had closed his eyes again, leaning against the wall behind him. Erik had instructed him to sit on the toilet seat, take off his shirt and pants, and if he wasn't so disoriented and exhausted, he might be ashamed in front of the other.

But now his feelings were too much, already filling every corner of his mind and heart to allow any more worry. Any more might cause the neurons to burn out and he would short circuit.

The touches on his skin were comforting, even if some of them pinched rather painfully. Erik did his best not to hurt him, treating him almost like brittle ceramic as he scrubbed his face and arms.

Halfway through, Charles had opened his eyes, watching wearily as the soot and dried blood was rubbed from his fingers, the washcloth stained black in Erik's hands.

He wished he could open his mouth, apologize to Erik again. He had now understood what he had done, that he had pushed himself and the kids too far. He had trusted them with too much and dangerous things had happened.

He would have preferred to disappear and never have to face the others again.

Erik had paused in his actions and was now looking worriedly at Charles. It was only then that Charles realized he was fighting back tears. His breaths were short and snappy. No tears would come, just the feeling of choking on his own panic. Too exhausted for crying, for tears and sobs.

Damn, how pathetic he was. Reduced to sitting on the toilet seat in boxer shorts and suffering a panic attack in front of his relatively recent boyfriend.

If Erik found him pathetic, he said nothing. And Charles was far too preoccupied with his own mind to look into Erik's thoughts. Admittedly, it made him a little afraid to look in, as if he almost expected to be rebuked and hated.

But Erik just took him in his arms, waited until he felt better and helped him into new and loose clothes.

The strange feeling of being clean and dirty at the same time scratched his skin as soon as they left the bathroom. Charles followed the other like a zombie across the room towards the sofa, his eyes fixed stubbornly on Erik's hand, which held his strongly but without pain.

~~

The professor was sitting on the sofa in front of the side table where they sometimes played chess. The chessboard was empty, Charles' lips moved silently as his eyes glided schematically over the squares. It looked as if the repeated counting of the squares kept him from collapsing completely.

The room seemed soaked in gloom. It felt like a heavy stone had settled on his chest and throat. Erik felt strangely out of place in Charles' room at that moment. As if he had never been here before. As if the change of atmosphere alone had alienated this room.

"I'll go make some tea," Erik decided.

He almost surprised himself by saying the words. They sounded so authentically Charles that his tongue suddenly felt burnt. As if he wasn't allowed to say this sentence because it fitted the other so perfectly.

Charles looked up from his seat on the sofa at the words. His eyes, which had previously been fixed on the floor, met Erik's. They no longer looked as if they were looking through him, but at him directly. Perhaps he no longer regretted those words, because it had torn Charles from his thoughts for a moment.

"Thank you," Charles breathed, the word almost inaudible but legible through the soft hint of a smile on his face and the blue eyes that softened.

Erik then left the telepath alone to make tea. It was a good opportunity to catch his own breath, to process what had happened today. No one had been seriously hurt, but Charles had risked something through his overzealousness that he shouldn't have. There was no point in blaming the telepath, after all, he was perfectly aware of it himself now.

But Erik blamed himself a little, thinking that perhaps he should have pestered the professor more. Or watched the kids himself and trained with them. If he had been downstairs with Charles and Alex, the accident might not have happened.

~~

When Erik came back with the pot of tea, Charles was lying on the sofa, looking blankly at the ceiling. Charles' gaze was never blank, because Erik couldn't imagine a situation when the other person wasn't thinking or lost in thought.

So perhaps his gaze was filled. Filled with thoughts and the eternal swarm of his telepathy that made his mind so much more special. Like a universe of its own that no one else would ever understand, except telepaths themselves.

When Erik poured him a cup and held Charles out to him, he clutched it gratefully like a life-saving object. As if the warmth and smell of the tea would breathe life back into him, calm his heart.

They sat in silence for a while. Only the occasional sip of tea could be heard. Charles had sat up to drink again and was getting closer to Erik by the second. He knew how important physical contact was to the telepath, so he waited until the tea in his cup was empty to pull Charles into his arms.

It was like pulling a cat into his arms, which didn't resist but had a slightly annoyed expression on its face. Erik leaned against the back of the couch, Charles draped over his body like a wet sack. With a sigh, Charles buried his head in Erik's sweater, eyes closed, breath shaky.

"Just say it." the professor's voice finally sounded close to his ear.

The words were torn from all emotion, and yet they trembled with something. Perhaps fear, perhaps worry or even frustration. The tension in the air returned, or perhaps it was Charles projecting his feelings from exhaustion.

"Hm?" Erik replied, trying to make his voice sound as calm as possible.

"You want to tell me you were right, give me a sermon. Better do it now, then I'll have it over with"

"I don't want to lecture you. I just want you to take more care of yourself, to behave more." Erik said gently and shook his head, a slight smile on his lips.

The words managed to ease some of the tension in the air.

Charles laughed out, "I always behave"

Erik, couldn't see the professor's face, looking only at the back of a head of short brown hair, and the side outline of his face, the nose pressing into Erik's sweater. Still, he could hear a mischievous smile in the other's voice. With a smile, Erik ran his hands through Charles' hair.

"I just want to remind you how you behaved when we were in the pub two weeks ago." Erik teased and Charles visibly stiffened at the sentence.

"What do you mean," he huffed in offense, the words slightly muffled because he was talking into Erik's clothing fabric.

Erik laughed and told his side of the story exactly as he remembered it.

It had been two weeks ago, Charles had managed to persuade Erik to go out for an evening and have a drink. At one point, Erik had had to drag the professor out when he realized that Charles was getting quite drunk.

The air was cold on the way back to the car, but he didn't mind the chill. The alcohol felt warm, had soaked into his face and Charles' presence always filled him with a certain level of warmth anyway.

That evening, in the dim light of the lanterns, Charles seemed to glow much brighter and warmer. Erik's thoughts and world blurred as the professor clung to his arm, babbling meaningless facts about genetics at him.

"Charles, we really have to go home now," Erik pressed as he dragged himself and Charles to the car.

"To my place or yours?"

Charles gave an amused and excited chuckle. The fact that he was already drunk enough to forget that they lived together bothered Erik a little. He felt the urge to be angry with the other but the grin and the bright blue eyes that adored him made it difficult to.

"Ours," Erik replied, annoyed.

"Oh," Charles said and nodded, a red flush sweeping over his already red face.

Charles followed him quietly to the car, clutching Erik's arm tightly with his, a cheeky grin cemented on his face. If Erik hadn't been so eager to finally go home, he probably would have stopped to kiss him breathlessly. He was overcome with a great level of care and affection for Charles at that moment.

Here, in the dark and empty street, his body fuelled by alcohol and consumed by his feelings for the other, Charles seemed like the most beautiful person on earth to Erik. He couldn't stop himself from planting a clumsy kiss on the professor's head as they walked. Recieving a bright smile from Charles as a response.

Arriving at the car, Erik opened the passenger side door and motioned for Charles to detach himself from his arm and get in. He was generally reluctant to let the other drive, but in such a drunken state it would be a death wish.

"Ah! You're such a gentlemen you know that?" Charles said as he sat down and Erik hesitated for a moment before closing the door, "You would be the perfect boyfriend."

Puzzled, Erik paused and blinked at the other. His whole body stopped at the words, trying hard to suppress a bark of laughter.

"Oh my god Charles. I'll never let you drink again, you're completely wasted." With a disbelieving laugh, he leaned down to the other's eye level, his arm still holding onto the car door, "I am your boyfriend, silly"

Charles became quite nervous and quiet at the words and the sudden closeness of the two. Flustered, he turned away, moving his body and legs away from the door so Erik could close it. Before Erik closed the door, he heard his drunken boyfriend mumble the words "Lucky me" to himself.

By the end of the story, Charles had buried his face in his hands, grunting with shame as Erik laughed at him.

"My god I am so sincerely sorry, Erik," Charles groaned and moved away from Erik to sit up.

Erik followed him as he moved, his face all smiles and softness as he looked at Charles, his mind still half caught in the beautiful memory. Charles slowly ran his hands over his flushed face. The sight made Erik want to kiss every inch of it.

"You don't have to apologize," Erik murmured and pressed a kiss to the side of Charles' head, near his ears.

A soft grunt escaped Charles in response. Clearly not convinced by Erik's words.

"I mean it." Erik said and lifted his hand to Charles' chin. Carefully, he turned his head gently in his direction, his heart beating faster as soon as the blue eyes found his, "It bothered me at first, but now I think about it fondly. I mean, you were so shitfaced that you had no idea who I was and yet, you fell in love with me again."

Charles brooding pout changed to a goofy grin at his words, "You're so awful"

Erik ignored his words, continuing to talk uninhibitedly, "I don't know what you mean, we're obviously soul mates."

"Hm..." hummed Charles, "I would find you in any life and fall in love with you"

For a moment, Erik thought the professor was making fun of him, but halfway through his dialog, his words seemed too honest, too full of affection. Charles leaned forward until their noses touched, breathing in the scent and warmth of the other as if it were vital.

"I love you," Erik murmured, his words being swallowed because Charles pressed his lips to his.

It was a gentle kiss, with no urgency behind it. It was a search for comfort and support. For endless support and Erik responded accordingly. Holding his love close and kissing him back with all the love he got.

~~

"You have a day off today," Erik announced to the students in the kitchen the next morning.

Raven and Hank looked up in surprise, while Sean cheered and headed back to his room without any questions, probably to go back to sleep. They all watched him disappear until Raven asked her question.

"Why?"

Erik sighed, "I think we all just need a break. Just catch our breath."

Hank looked back and forth between Raven and Erik, clearly confused that the normally strict Erik was suggesting a break.

"You're just worried about Charles," deadpanned Raven.

Erik ignored her statement, turning around and waving his hand, "Stop complaining and enjoy your day off, training starts again tomorrow and I won't be gentle with you"

That got her to be quiet as Erik made his way to Charles' bedroom. The house was quiet in the early morning, bright sunlight shining sporadically into the hallways. Erik felt proud as he slipped through the door to the bedroom and closed it behind him with a soft click.

The night before, shortly after Charles had fallen asleep, Erik had turned off his alarm clock. And knowing that Charles couldn't survive without his alarm clock, there was a hundred percent chance that he would definitely get the sleep he needed tonight.

With a yawn, Erik slipped into bed with Charles, who slept like a dead man, barely responding to the other. Without his telepathy, Charles would probably have been killed a thousand times in his sleep. He would sleep through any war or catastrophe.

But Charles' telepathy would instantly pick up on the bad intentions in someone's mind and wake him up. However, if you were completely relaxed, as Erik was at the moment, you were invisible to him.

When Erik pulled the professor into his arms, he reacted with a sleepy and annoyed sound. Visibly annoyed at having been disturbed in his well-earned sleep.

"Sorry..." Erik mumbled, burying his nose in the mop of brown hair.

"What time is it..." yawned a sleepy Charles as he tried to reach for his clock.

Erik held him back, wrapped both arms around him and pulled him closer.

"Erik." Charles protested weakly, but let the other pull him back into bed.

"I've given the kids a day off. So we can sleep as long as we want," explained Erik.

"Hm..." Charles yawned, visibly considering which he liked better, sleep or work, "Sure..whatever..."

In the end, sleep won.

~~

Charles stayed in bed a little longer than he usually allowed himself. Meanwhile, Erik bheaved like a watchdog to keep the professor from working. As if it were a criminal offense to do so. And despite protests and arguments, Erik was not convinced.

And Charles accepted Erik's rules for today.

Being torn out of the cycle of constant overwork had reminded him what it was like to breathe with relaxed lungs. With lowered shoulders and a calm head that wasn't constantly vibrating with work.

That day, Erik and Charles played chess for hours, trying several different strategies and ways to play the game they hadn't found time for before. Until they ended up being interrupted by dinner planning.

At that moment, there was no better way to end the day than watching a movie with all the Xmen. Earlier, Alex and Hank had argued extensively about which movie they would watch, and Charles had been relieved to see Alex intact and as sassy as ever.

Sometimes, Charles forgot to give his own brain a break. A fact that was vital for a telepath and yet so often overlooked. Telepaths were constantly exposed to their thoughts and others, constantly in a stream of activity and thought, no rest, no break.

It was easy to get lost in it. And Charles had already had several moments in his life when he had lost himself in the maelstrom. He had been swept away by it, had worked himself to ruin.

But now he had Erik. It was a thought that haunted him for the rest of the evening. It came to the fore again and again and only made his feelings for Erik even stronger.

Charles liked his independence, the fact that he didn't have to rely on anyone. But he loved Erik, and it was nice to have someone to look after you. And he tried to do the same for Erik.

When he went to bed later that evening, the thought came back once again. The other was already in bed, eyes closed and breathing rhythmically and relaxed. With a smile, Charles ran his hand over the Erik's cheeks, caressing the light stubble and watching his eyes open sleepily.

"What?" yawned Erik, a little annoyed at having been woken by his freshly fallen asleep state.

"I love you," Charles whispered to him with a grin.

"I love you too," Erik hummed and pulled the other closer to him, only to receive sleepy kisses on his mouth and cheeks.

Tomorrow, they would continue training together with the Xmen and after that, he and Erik would take time to train each other. Or rather, Erik would help him with his own training.

Charles had no idea what Erik had come up with for him, but he had justified it with "I'm only helping you the way you helped me"

And Charles really hoped that Erik wasn't going to make him move a satellite dish with his mind or anything.