Title: Underneath Our Willow Tree
Author: Arach Malfoy
Rating: T (it's more borderline, but not for anyone 13 and younger)
Pairings: Charles/Erik
Summary: The willow tree that stood atop the hill between the Xaviers and Lehnsherrs bore witness to many memories, dates carved into its wood where they would stay forever. It watched families and friends form bonds, it heard laughter and cries, it comforted the upset and swayed with the upbeat. It held the names of the family that claimed it as theirs and dates of anniversaries, birthdays, death dates, and special moments. One date with two years stood out the most however. May 28, 2006 and 2020. One was the start of a strong friendship. The other was an unanticipated proposal underneath the willow tree.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters - speaking or mentioned. All X-Men characters and the franchise itself belong to Marvel.

8 years passed since they demolished their rivalry – though not at all ceasing the Paper War, Erik sometimes woke up to Charles throwing paper at him and Charles sometimes found himself being bombarded with paper as soon as he stepped out of his house. People saw their 8 year Paper War as a childish act, but it meant so much more to Charles and Erik.

It took 8 years for Charles to confess his love for Erik. They were laying at the base of their hill when Charles sat up, nerves bunched up and butterflies flittering in his stomach. He had a whole speech about how much he loved Erik, but his nerves got the better of him and, well, he just blurted out Erik, I love you. Erik shot up after he said that. He didn't say anything in response, didn't react too much save for unreadable eyes that stared at Charles with the same intensity as when Erik "hated" him. They immediately went back to their respective homes.

A month later, Erik kissed Charles underneath the willow tree. It was soft, tentative, and felt oh so right. The wind gently blew through the leaves, making them sway in a waltz, and the sunlight streaming onto Charles and Erik made their first kiss seem magical. After they pulled away, a breathless Erik whispered I love you. Charles crashed their lips together for another kiss, this one more passionate and less cautious than their first. Erik didn't even need to ask the question, Charles knew that he was Erik's and Erik was his from that day on.

Two years later, Erik finally noticed the carvings that littered their willow tree's wood.

"What do all these numbers mean?" he asked, peeking from behind the other side of the tree to where Charles lay against the trunk, book in his hands.

Erik didn't need to ask about the letters, he already figured out that they were initials. His fingers brushed fondly over the CFX carved neatly near the bottom of the trunk. He smiled as he remembered visiting the willow tree his first day in Westchester and immediately being drawn to the initials. He didn't know what it was about those initials but he knew since day one that he'd be with Charles no matter what.

Charles closed his book and got up to stand next to Erik, an affectionate smile on his face when he saw what carving Erik was currently swiping his thumb over. He replied, "They're dates." He pointed to the numbers – 05/03/98 – underneath his initials. "That's my birthday and that's Raven's birthday plus the day my parents adopted her," he pointed to a set of numbers – 02/10/88 and 03/12/88 – carved neatly next to RDX.

They spent the rest of their time under the protection of the willow tree leaves circling the trunk, Charles pointing and explaining what dates signified what and Erik listening intently.

Charles pointed to two initials sharing one date – BX and SX with 12/18/04 – next to where the first branch of the tree sprouted out, the writing uneven and messy. He had a sad smile on his face as he explained it.

"That's the date my parents died. I remember Raven and I going up this hill after the funeral with tears in our eyes. I sat sobbing at the trunk of the tree while Raven climbed up to that branch, pulled out a small knife from a hidden pocket in her dress, and carving their initials and death date," Charles' voice cracked in the middle and Erik pulled him into a one-armed hug, wanting to wash away all of Charles' pain. Charles took a deep breath and continued, "I couldn't watch her let out her pain through the messy carving, I was six and heartbroken because I waited for my parents who had gone out to get Christmas ornaments and things so we could spend the rest of the week celebrating Christmas. What I got instead was a hysterical Raven hugging me with all her might after getting off the phone with the police. I had asked her what happened, when were mommy and daddy coming back because it had been eight hours since they left home. She chanted back that they were gone, they were dead, they weren't coming back, and I never cried harder in my life." By the end of it, Charles had tears streaming down his face and his shoulders were shaking. Erik couldn't take it anymore; his heart was aching for his lover. He wrapped his other arm around Charles, fully encasing him and pulling him close to his body. Charles let out a sob and returned the hug by wrapping his arms around Erik's waist, his hands bunching up the fabric of his shirt as he cried into Erik's chest.

Erik pressed a kiss on top of Charles' head, his hand rubbing soothing circles on his back. His gaze moved to the initials of Charles' parents. I'll protect him, I promise.

He could've sworn he felt something similar to a hand patting him on the back at the same time a breeze swept past them.

3 months later, on a Friday, Edie Lehnsherr died in her sleep.

Erik's dad had died only a few months after Erik was born, so it was just him and his mama all these years. And now she was gone.

She had died of a heart attack when Erik was sleeping over at Charles' place. When he came home the next morning to silence, he became worried. Usually, his mama would be up and making breakfast for him to eat when he came back, but this morning held an eerie quiet to it.

Unease and fear gripped his heart and Erik had dashed to his mom's bedroom.

"Mama!" he yelled, running to her side where she lay on the bed. She looked like she was peacefully asleep, if it weren't for the paleness of her skin. "Mama!" he yelled again, pressing his ear against her chest. He heard nothing – no air going into her lungs, no heartbeat.

Erik held his mama close and cried into her chest, feeling like he was six years old again during the time where his mom overworked herself to earn enough money for their current house.

He placed a kiss onto her painfully cold forehead and buried his face into her hair. "Iche liebe dich, Mama," he whispered before reluctantly getting up to call Charles.

Erik knew he had to prepare the funeral and call their lawyers about her will – not that there would be much, Erik was her only son and she was an only child. He pushed those thoughts away when he heard the line being picked up; he had to let Charles know first. He had to talk to him.

"Hello?" Hearing Charles' smooth, British accent nearly broke down Erik's walls and he felt his eyes welling up with tears.

"Charles," he said, trying his best to keep his cool. He knew that his voice must've cracked because he felt a sob coming up his throat the same time Charles answered.

"Erik," he breathed into the phone, worry and concern evident in his voice, "what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Erik stayed quiet for a few minutes before he replied, "No. No, I'm not alright. Charles… Mama's dead."

He heard Charles' sharp intake of breath.

"I'll be over as soon as I can," Charles said quickly. Erik heard rustling on the other line, probably Charles shrugging on a jacket or something. The rustling stopped and Charles spoke tenderly, "Stay strong, Erik. I love you."

That's what got him. The tears began to stream down his cheeks and he bit his hand to muffle the sob. Taking a deep breath he replied, "I love you too."

They both hung up and Erik went to unlock the door for Charles before going back to his mama's room. He needed to do something while waiting. He picked her up and moved her into the living room, placing her onto their single couch.

Erik sat in the armchair next to the couch, placed his hands over his face, and waited.

The sound of the front door opening and closing did nothing to get Erik out of his slump. He was still in the armchair, fuming and crying and trying his best not to break something. He didn't look up when Charles walked over to him, only wrapped his arms around Charles' torso, pulled him into his lap, and cried into his neck.

"Oh Erik," he said softly, sorrow and grief laced those two words. Erik's mom had become his in a way; she even insisted that he call her mama just like Erik did. He held onto Erik with as much force as Erik was holding onto him, threading his fingers through Erik's hair and burying his face in it, letting the tears fall.

After they separated, Erik called the only funeral home in their little town of Westchester and – with some help from Charles and his parents' old money – arranged for a funeral service that Sunday. Day soon turned to night and the two lovers were emotionally exhausted.

"Goodnight, Mama," Erik murmured, smoothing down his mama's hair and pulling a blanket over her body. He silently walked off to his bedroom.

"Rest in peace… mama," Charles said quietly, whispering the last part. He kneeled down and took her cold hand in his, giving it a slight squeeze. He got up from the floor, brought the rest of the blanket over her face, and walked in the direction of Erik's bedroom.

Charles ended up staying the night in Erik's bed, holding him protectively as they slept.

The funeral service passed by quickly even with almost the whole neighborhood there. Edie Lehnsherr had the kind of personality that made everyone like her and that's exactly what happened when she first joined their community. Everyone felt like they lost an important person in their lives.

Everyone left moments after her casket was buried, leaving only Charles and Erik. They stood side by side in front of the tombstone, not saying a word. At least, not a word was said aloud. Charles walked over to the tombstone and placed his hand on top of it. His eyes flickered over to Erik who had his eyes fixed on the ground. I'll protect him with my life, mama. I promise.

"Come on," Charles said, breaking the silence and taking Erik's hand. Erik allowed himself to be dragged away, staring at the back of Charles' head with curiosity.

They walked out of the cemetery and a few more blocks until they were walking uphill towards their willow tree. Charles parted the leaves and stopped them in front of a fairly bare piece of the tree trunk. He pulled out a small pocket knife from the breast pocket of his suit and handed to Erik.

"Wha-"

Charles placed his hand over Erik's, the one loosely holding onto the knife, and shook his head. Erik closed his mouth.

"Every date important to me is carved into this tree. My parents birthdays, the day Raven graduated high school, the day we stopped being enemies. If you're comfortable with it, I'd like mama's birthday and death date to be part of the history this tree holds and will hold forever; this willow tree's staying forever," Charles explained. He gave Erik's hand a comforting squeeze when he saw the hesitancy in Erik's eyes. "You two are very important to me and I want to share this with you. Erik, please let me."

The hesitancy melted and Erik nodded his head. Charles sent him a soothing smile before stepping back and turning around, giving his lover the space he needed.

When he turned back around, he saw the initials EL with the dates 10/29/67 and 07/09/16 etched deeply into the tree. The ache in his heart was vaguely familiar like the ache he felt at the news of his parents' death.

Seeing the knife being clutched tightly in Erik's hands to the point where his knuckles turned white, he walked up to him and loosened his grip. Taking the knife from him and carefully tucking it back into his pocket, he enveloped Erik in a firm and calming hug.

"At least she got to see me graduate high school," Erik mumbled into Charles neck.

The ache in his heart worsened.

Three years later, Hank and Raven got married. Charles, of course, served as Hank's best man and Erik was one of the groomsmen. Alex, Sean, and Darwin filled the other spots as groomsmen while Angel, Ororo, and Jean, Raven's friends from university, were her bridesmaids – their aunt Moira serving as her maid of honor.

Two hours before the wedding, Erik was grumbling as he put on his suit.

"What's wrong, love?" Charles asked, coming up behind him while simultaneously shrugging on his jacket. "You seem tense and in a horrible mood."

"I hate weddings," Erik replied, still grumbling. His foul mood was affecting his ability to tie his tie, which just made his mood even worse.

Charles sighed and moved in front of him, taking Erik's tie in his hands and tying it himself. "Aren't you happy for Raven and Hank?"

"I'm happy, ecstatic really that Hank finally proposed to Raven after dating for fourteen years," Erik said, placing a chaste kiss on Charles' lips when his tie situation was taken care of. "I just don't like weddings in general. The churches are stuffy and everyone's emotions run a bit too high. It's just uncomfortable."

"Does it also have something to do with your fear of commitment?" Charles asked quietly as he let go of the tie and backed away.

"That's part of it," Erik mumbled. The tension was thick in the air, Erik's fear of commitment – due to his fear of losing his loved ones after the death of mama – was something they were standing on opposite sides of. Erik didn't want to commit, he knew he wanted to be with Charles for the rest of his life, he just feared the proposal and wedding that made it official. Charles, on the other hand, wanted to get married; to officially be Mr. Charles Xavier-Lehnsherr and officially Erik's in the public eye.

Deciding to cut the tension and to relax Erik for the wedding, Charles pulled Erik close by his tie, their lips inches apart.

"Let me help you relax, darling," he whispered, his breath hot against Erik's lips. He watched as Erik's eyes filled with desire, his whole body relaxing under the close proximity of Charles.

Erik said nothing, only surging forward to hungrily capture Charles lips.

Even with the long two hours in between, they managed to be twenty minutes late to the wedding, suits slightly rumpled and hair a mess.

A year passed and it was May 28, 2020 – Charles and Erik's 14 year anniversary of their Paper War, as they lovingly called it.

Charles walked up the hill between the Xaviers and Lehnsherrs, dressed in a dark blue cardigan and faded jeans. He parted the leaves and waited, trying his hardest not to text Erik about when he'd get there.

Just as he was about to give up and take out his phone to text Erik, he noticed the small piece of paper stuck to the tree.

Pull for a surprise

Right next to the note, a string dangled in the air. A goofy smile adorned Charles face and he reached out, gripping the string and pulled.

As he expected, dozens of paper hearts – all different sizes and primarily five different colors, by the looks of it – rained down onto him. He let out a delighted laugh and plucked the small, blue heart off his head. Remembering that the first round of raining paper hearts fourteen years ago had I like you scrawled onto every heart, he read the heart.

"You?" he read, looking at the heart questioningly. Taking the pink heart that got stuck in his cardigan, he read that one too.

"Will." His mind swirled with confusion as he tried to figure out the meaning behind the words on the hearts. It was definitely Erik's handwriting, so there had to be something there.

Squatting to the ground, he picked up the three other colored hearts – lilac, red, and mint – that had ? and marry and me written on its respective colored heart. Charles own heart skipped a beat at the word marry on the red heart.

He rearranged the hearts in his hands to form the correct question.

"Will you marry me?" he said, his breath catching in his throat. He was so focused and in shock at the hearts that he didn't notice Erik slipping out from behind the tree until he looked up and saw his lover kneeling down on one knee, velvet box open to show a titanium engagement ring that shone in the small stream of sunlight peeking through the leaves.

"Erik, oh my god," Charles whispered, unable to speak any louder because he knew all he could manage would be a whimper.

"On June 7, 2005, I moved to a small town called Westchester with my mama. The first thing I did was run up this hill and play underneath the willow tree. I remember finding CFX carved into the trunk and felt something pull me to those initials, I knew I had to find out who CFX was. Four months later, when school started, I met a boy named Charles Xavier in my class. I only spoke to him once and spent the rest of the year practically stalking him in secret. On March 11, 2006, I finally gathered up the courage to do more than just stare at him. I instigated a Paper War. Two months later, on May 28, I had enough of being his rival. I never wanted him as my enemy; I wanted him as my friend. And so on that day, I became friends with Charles Xavier." Erik paused to take a breath and to get up off his knee. "Sorry, I have a pretty long proposal speech and it's better if I'm standing," he apologized, moving closer to Charles and taking his left hand, holding onto it firmly, while his right held the velvet box open.

"Eight years later, I discovered that I had fallen in love with my best friend and greatest challenge. Three years after that, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with one Charles Francis Xavier. And now, on May 28, 2020, fourteen years after meeting you, my soulmate," Charles couldn't help but snort at that, Erik wasn't one for romantic clichés. Erik smiled at him, "and I know that's extremely cliché, but bear with me, Charles. As I was saying, fourteen years after meeting you, here I am – or was – on one knee with a ring box in my hand and dozens of paper hearts that not only recreate that day fourteen years ago, but also symbolizes us," Erik took another gulp of breath and went back down onto one knee, his left hand still holding onto Charles, their fingers interlocked.

"Charles Francis Xavier, will you marry me?"

"Yes yes yes, oh god, yes!" Charles practically screamed as tears streamed down his face. He tackled Erik to the ground, his arms around his lover's neck and hugging him tightly. When Charles released Erik from his death grip, now on his side and lying next to Erik on the paper covered grass, the two looked each other in the eyes before bursting out into laughter.

"That was a really cheesy speech," Charles said, shifting around so that his head was resting on Erik's chest. He let out a content sigh, the beating of Erik's heart having a calming effect on him.

"Did you like it though?"

"I loved it." Charles leaned up to kiss Erik on the lips, Erik leaned down to meet him halfway. Before the kiss could turn into more, Charles pulled away, "You still need to put that ring on my finger."

Erik laughed and shook his head. He took the titanium ring out of the box and picked up Charles' left hand. He slipped the ring onto Charles' ring finger, kissing it once it was on. Charles smiled up at him, his affectionate expression softening Erik's usually intimidating features.

"Iche liebe dich," Erik said softly, wrapping his arms around Charles and pulling him so that his lover was up to his neck.

Charles kissed a trail up Erik's neck and jaw, stopping mere inches away from his lips. He looked into Erik's eyes, certain that both of them reflected each other's love and devotion for the other. "I love you too."

And they lay there, newly engaged fiancés, kissing underneath their willow tree.