High School AU
So, some things are backwards, or not quite right, I'm aware of that. Also, It's lot's of dialogue, and everyone is about the same age, and nobody is a mutant. There's also a little swearing.
"I hate that bitch!" Raven, Charles' sister said, slamming her lunch tray on the table. Charles scooted over to make room between him and Hank.
"Sorry, my dear sister, but I'm afraid you'll have to specify for us to know which person at this table you're talking about." That earned a laugh from Raven. Alex started to protest as she answered-
"Well, I'm not talking about any of you today," she answered with a grin. With a less happy expression, she continued, "I'm talking about Frost."
"What?" said Hank. "I thought you guys were like best friends." Raven shook her head vigorously.
"Not since that bitch decided it would be funny to get together with Shaw!" Charles dropped his fork, and Hank's jaw dropped.
"Sorry," Sean interrupted, "But what's wrong with that?"
"Are you kidding?" asked Raven. "Shaw, like, totally broke Moira's heart. I can't believe she would do that Moira!" She sighed heavily.
"How about you, Charles? How's your love life going?" Sean and Alex started laughing before she even finished the question.
"Nowhere, just like yesterday," laughed Alex. Charles blushed furiously.
"He's still pining after Lensherr," explained Hank. Raven mouthed an 'oh' and put a hand on Charles shoulder.
"Sweetie... I'm fine if you like a guy, but... Lensherr? Not to be mean, but what are the odds of that happening? He's on the football team..."
"I am perfectly aware of the daunting odds." Charles said dryly. "Besides, I can't do much about it, can I?"
"Of course you can," said Alex, "Go out with someone else." Charles shoulders slumped, the comment leaving him considerably more miserable than before. Sean elbowed him.
"Shut up, man." Alex grinned suggestively.
"A nice kiss might shut me up..." Sean groaned at Alex's daily innuendo. Alex did this with everyone, guy or girl. Unfortunately, his friends were no exception. Raven's eyes were practically shooting daggers at the pair as she patted Charles' back.
"Shut up both of you, or my alternative way won't be so nice!" she hissed.
"Nice to know I have such supportive friends," grumbled Charles.
"Come on," said Alex, "Cheer up Sunshine. We have algebra next, you and the Nerd can kick my ass." Charles smiled a little, before decidedly cheering up.
"Well, I suppose Hank and I will probably have to help you, so it won't do any good if I'm a grouch all class..." Alex stood up as the bell rang, grinning.
"That's the spirit."
"Damn it!" muttered Alex. "I don't get this!"
"Because your doing it wrong! Here look," As it turned out, with Hank there, Charles wasn't needed to help Alex. Conveniently enough, Erik sat a few seats away and a row down. Charles sighed forlornly, staring at Lensherr.
"Earth to Charles," interrupted Alex. Charles looked around for a minute, seemingly realizing what he was supposed to be doing. "Apparently I'm too much of an imbecile for Hank to explain this, wanna lend a hand?"
"Um, sure," Charles said, still not quite finished staring at Erik. Finally he tore himself away long enough to help Alex figure out what he was doing. Once it was proved to Hank that Alex still had some grasp of understanding, the pair were working again, permitting Charles to continue his staring.
"Hey, Xavier!" A few minutes later Alex was practically shoving Charles out of his seat. "Come on man, next period." Charles looked back and realized indeed, class was over, and Erik was gone.
"Sorry," he muttered, hurriedly gathering his things up. Given he very well might be late for next class, his papers naturally had to go flying everywhere. Alex cursed and crouched to help Charles pick up his stuff when-
"Holy. Shit. Look who's coming our way." Charles looked up to find himself once more staring at Erik Lensherr. Erik looked right back for a minute, before sighing heavily and joining the pick up. In less than two minutes, Charles had most of his stuff and was close to late. He turned around to get his things from Erik, and as he handed it to Charles, their fingers brushed. Just for a second, but enough to make Charles'heart skip a beat.
"Um- Thanks. I uh, have to go." And he hurried out, leaving a smirking Erik Lensherr.
"Knock, knock," said a voice from the other side of Charles' bedroom door.
"Who's there," said Charles, though he knew the answer.
"It's your cell phone," answered the voice.
"I'm afraid Mr Cell Phone no longer has a guaranteed residence here, might I suggest sticking you nose someone else's life?"
"Come on Charles, open up." Raven complained.
"Leave me alone."
"I thought you loved me!" said Raven, sounding extremely hurt.
"Of course I do, it's unspoken law when it comes to siblings."
"Then let me in!" came the indignant cry.
"The law is that I have to love you, not that I have to let you in my room," Charles said, as if genuinely sure she didn't understand his meaning. Even so, Charles rolled off his bed, and stepping around his numerous books, he unlocked the door and let Raven in.
"Wow..." she said, eyeing the mess of papers, posters, and books that Charles called his room. When Charles was feeling particularly like an English gentlmen, he went as far as calling it his study.
"You know, sometimes, I'm not sure why mom and dad adopted you," stated Raven. Even more sarcastically she added, "You're far too English and proper and gentlemanly." Charles laughed at that.
"Yes, well, someone needed to bring this house to order." Raven rolled her eyes.
"Of course, that's why they had me," she said in a duh, kind of tone.
"So Raven," Charles said as he flopped back on his bed with a book about genetics, "Why have you invaded my sanctuary today?"
"Word has it that you had a run-in with Lensherr during algebra." Charles turned red at the cheeks.
"So, my personal life is the subject of gossip these days?"
"No," Raven said as a matter-of-factly, "Only, a few of the girls could tell you like him. Unfortunately, Alex wasn't as alone as he thought when he was telling Hank and Sean about why he was late."
"Raven?" Charles said. Raven sat next to her baby brother on his bed.
"Yes Charles?"
"Am I really that obvious?" he said in a small voice. That small voice tugged at Raven's heart strings.
"Of course not, sweetheart! No, no, only a few girls can really tell. And it's not your fault, they usually have a brother or dads or something."
"Oh," Charles said, though he still did not seem convinced.
"Raven?"
"Yes Charles?"
"Thank you."
"Oh it's nothing," she said, "You know how it is. It's required by unspoken law." With that, she got up and smiled at Charles, and left him. By the time the door was closed behind her, Charles had a much lighter attitude.
"Morning Charles," said Hank.
"Morning Hank," greeted Charles as they closed their lockers. Alex walked up from behind them, putting his arms around their shoulders.
"What up, nerds?" Hank blushed a little before shying away from Alex, and Charles brushed Alex away as well.
"I'm sorry, I don't converse with beings of such low intelligence," Charles said stated. Alex grinned.
"In that case, how bout we go somewhere else, just you 'n me, babe?" Charles sighed heavily, and Sean joined them.
"Hate to break it to you Alex, but everyone here is a genius compared to you." Alex scowled and gave Sean a little shove.
"If anyone here was a genius, nobody would ever turn me down," he muttered.
"On the contrary, some would say it proves their higher mental faculties," chuckled Charles.
"Tell me, Mr Science Guy," Alex said, addressing Hank, "Is there a scientific reason for everyone's close-mindedness?" Hank blushed again.
"Um, no, I don't think so," he answered shyly.
"Whoa, guys, three 'o clock." Charles turned to follow Sean's gaze. Down the hall a crowd of students stood, shouting-
"Fight, fight, fight!" Alex took lead, pushing through the other students so he could see what was going on.
"Oh hell," muttered Alex, as he rejoined Charles, Hank and Sean.
"What? Who is it?" asked Sean. Alex bit his lip, eyeing Charles.
"It's Lensherr and Shaw."
"What? What are they fighting about?" Sean asked, oblivious to Charles' sinking expression.
"I dunno," said Alex, who was still eyeing Charles worriedly, "I think Shaw must have insulted Lensherr's mom."
"Oh my God..." said Hank. Sean, who still didn't quite understand what was going on elbowed Hank to explain. Alex did instead.
"God, honestly! Sean you're an idiot! Five years ago Lensherr's mom was raped and murdered, and Shaw's dad was jailed for it!" Sean's jaw dropped.
"YEAH!" shouted someone from the crowd, and they heard something get slammed into a locker. Alex pushed through again, this time the rest of them followed.
Lensherr had Shaw pinned up against a locker. Shaw's nose was bleeding, and probably broken. Eriik's arm was pulled back, ready to punch Shaw's lights out.
"Do it," hissed Shaw. "Do it, you coward!"
"ARGH!" shouted Erik, as his fist collided with Shaw's face. He brought back his fist for another punch, when Charles came up from behind, grabbing his wrist.
"Stop it!" Groans came from the crowd. "He's had enough."
"Let GO of me!" said an angry Erik.
"Let go of Shaw," Charles said calmly, "And I'll let go of you." For second Erik looked ready to hit Charles too, before his grip on Shaw slackened. The gathered students started walking off, and Charles let go of Erik's wrist.
"What the hell?" he snarled when the crowd had fully dispersed. "Why the hell did you do that?"
"You could've sent him to the hospital," said Charles.
"His jackass of a dad killed my mom!" retorted Erik.
"I'm well aware of that, but you can't make him responsible for actions that weren't his own, even if he acts like an ass!" Erik opened his mouth to argue, but found he didn't know how to respond. Charles glanced at Alex and back to Erik.
"See you in algebra," Charles said quietly, before rejoining his friends.
Charles slumped down decidedly in the school library. He was rather disappointed- Hank had promised to join him, but then couldn't, for whatever reason. And now, he was alone, studying for a chemistry test, silently cursing Hank. He sat there for what seemed an eternity, before a voice across from him said-
"Not really in the studying mood, are you?"
"Uh, pardon?" Charles looked up only to see none other than Erik Lensherr.
"Well," started Erik, "Seeing as you haven't flipped a page since you sat down, I can only speculate as to why one would just sit there."
"Oh," Charles said slowly, still a little behind on what had just happened. It took a minute for him to respond. "Well, seeing as you knew that, one might also speculate on why you've been watching me do nothing."
"Well, I wanted to see if you were actually doing anything before I came over and interrupted." Charles sighed a little.
"Well, you caught me. I'm not actually studying." Charles said dryly, though inside he was bubbling with excitement. Erik, was here, talking to him!
"I just wanted to say... Thanks, For earlier." Charles' face tugged into a frown.
"You didn't seem all that grateful then."
"Well... I'm sorry. I was being a jerk. I'm was too busy being angry to realize you only were trying to help." Charles gave him a small smile, before picking up his books and walking away.
"And he apologized?"
"That's what I said," Charles answered.
"Bloody hell," muttered Sean. Alex's face was still a picture of disbelief.
"Erik Lensherr. The quarterback. Apologized." He said.
"Yep, I reckon I could tell who it was," said Charles.
"Yeah, but he apologized? To you? The person who stopped him from punching Shaw's lights out?"
"I think he just said that," confirmed Hank.
"But... It's Lensherr!" said Alex.
"Maybe it's not so hopeless after all," mused Hank.
"Well, an apology hardly means your interested in somebody," said Sean. Alex elbowed Sean, who once more was being clueless.
"No," amended Charles, "But it does mean either A) They care about your feelings, B) They care what you think about them, or C) Both. Which, either way, is still a start."
"Well... Did he say anything else?" wondered Sean.
"No," Charles answered, "But it's better than nothing at all."
"I suppose," agreed Sean.
The next day, Charles was in library and once more was joined by Erik. And it happened again, every day, and soon, it was a daily thing.
Erik would simply sit across from Charles, studying his own books. Never speaking, just being there.
It was nice. Knowing Erik Lensherr, the school jock known for not caring about anything, was willing to sit by Charles for a few hours and actually study. Charles began skipping things; outings with his friends, family night, and other things, just to be there at the library with Erik. It wasn't until a couple of weeks later when-
"Do you get this?"
"Wha-?" was all Charles could manage on short notice. Erik stood up, and slid into the seat next to Charles, carrying a textbook with him. Silently, he pointed to a problem. Charles looked over it for minute, before grabbing a piece of paper and furiously scribbling out some work.
Erik sat quietly for a while, while Charles attacked the offending problem. Suddenly he dropped his pencil shrugged.
"I'm stuck. I don't understand- I should've figured this out by now." Charles looked over it again and again, absent-mindedly chewing at his pencil.
"You know, you're kind of cute when you're flustered."
"I'm sorry, wha-?" Halfway through speaking, Charles seemed to realize what Erik had said.
"I- I- I should go," he said sweeping up his things. He started to walk away, before turning around and saying:
"Good luck on that problem."
"Charles Xavier to the office please- Charles Xavier to the office." With a final crackle the speaker system turned off.
"Well Mr. Xavier, it appears you need a hall pass," said the teacher, Mr. Fiorelli, dryly. Charles glanced back at his friends, and could tell at lest Hank was thing the same thing, as Alex wasn't there and Sean was asleep. Why was he being requested in the office?
Resisting the urge to sigh with a mixture of boredom, hate, and plain annoyance, Charles carefully picked up his bag and crossed the room to their teacher's desk. Quickly picking up the hall pass, he made his way to the door, taking a last took at the class room before journeying through the halls.
As he made his way to the office, Charles tried to think of any reason he might have been summoned- The fight with Shaw? But he stopped that... He wasn't failing any of his classes so far... There was the goat thing, but that was mostly Alex's fault, and Alex had made Charles, Hank and Sean swear never to mention it... Raven wasn't even here today, she was at the Freshmen Science Museum field trip... Wait. Did this have to do with Alex not being here?
Oh God... What had Alex done this time? Crossing his fingers that he was wrong, and that this had hopefully absolutely nothing to do with Alex, Charles pushed the door to the office open. He was greeted by the scene of the secretary and sending memos faster than you could say wow. Charles knew something was definitely wrong, judging on the look the secretary was giving him. Charles suddenly wished he could read minds. (Haha... Couldn't resist, sorry.)
"You must be Charles dear... It's about one of your friends." Charles heart sunk. What had Alex done? "I believe it is Mr. Summers. You see, he's an orphan and you were among his next-of-kin..." She trailed off.
"Yes, I know, that's for the medical for-" Charles stopped, suddenly realizing what she was saying. "You don't mean...?"
"I'm sorry dear. There's a car out front. He'll be waking soon, and they were ho[ping you'd come..." Charles nodded quickly and left the office, forgetting his bag. Pulling on his coat, he walked through the icy air, not really feeling the cold. Everything seemed a bur, from the car at the school up until he was led to Alex's room. Quietly, he opened the door.
It wasn't a pretty sight. Alex was asleep, and hooked up to an IV drip. He had bandages on his torso, and brace on his arm. His chest and arms where scraped up, and he had a black eye. Charles felt it was safe to guess that he also had a concussion.
"I am so sorry..." Charles whirled around to see the last person he expected- Erik Lehnsherr.
"What happened? What's going on?" Erik Lehnsherr was not one to cry, but none the less, silent tears were making their way down his face.
"It's all my fault," he said.
"What? No, Erik, surely not! Who did this?"
"Janos and Azazel."
"Then it wasn't your fault!" Charles said.
"Don't you get it?" growled Erik. "It's revenge! Shaw was angry with me, so he got revenge!"
"What?" Charles said.
"He knew..." Erik sighed. "He knew how much you had come to mean to me... But he knew he wouldn't get away with aiming for you so he set his sights on one of your friends." Charles frowned and tilted his head.
"But... Why are you here?" Erik shrugged.
"I heard them... I tried to figure out where Alex was calling from, but I was too late. When I got there, they scattered, and he was like this..." he gestured towards the bed. Charles put a hand on Erik's shoulder.
"Erik, this was not your fault. You must understand that I do not blame you." Erik leaned away from the touch.
"Your a fool, Charles Xavier."
"Erik? What did you mean, by... How much I had come to mean to you?"
"Just that I considered you a good friend...?" Liar, Charles thought. that sounded more like a question. Praying that this is what Erik meant, Charles stood on tip toe, and kissed Erik.
"Ah yes, that's why..." Erik murmured.
"Finally," a hoarse voice said from the other side of the room. Erik and Charles looked to the bed in surprise, to see that Alex had cracked his eyes open. "He's been wanting you for a long time, Lehnsherr. I'd give the classic you-break-my-friends-heart-I-kick-your-ass shpeel, but O think I won't sound all that threatening for a while..."
Charles blushed an attempted to hide behind the door, but Erik just laughed, and pulled Charles into a hug. "Thanks for your lenience. If I may borrow your visitor for a moment...?"
Alex laughed which turned into a cough, which brought on Alex-are-you-alright-really-Erik-you-should-know-better-than too-make-him-laugh. "I'm fine," coughed grinned.
"Thanks, Summers. I owe you one." And then he took Charles by the hand and led him out of the room...
I'll leave the rest to your pretty little brains fill in. Thanks for making it this far, I know this is a little spotty... Just go ahead and review :D