Prompt 128: "What happens when a man bumps into his former girlfriend/boyfriend while he shops for baby toys with his pregnant wife? The man once told his ex-girlfriend/boyfriend: 'I'm not the marrying kind'." Extra: his wife is his ex-boyfriend's sister. (Characters: Erik, Charles, Raven)

Erik didn't see Charles there. If he had, he would have turned Raven around, certainly. He would have never let her enter that shop. It didn't matter that Charles would hear about it afterwards — because Raven was his little sister, after all —, all Erik wanted was for it to never happen.

He could already hear those words echoing in his mind. "I'm not the marrying kind, Charles. You know it. You shouldn't expect better."

Well. Charles always had this incredible gift of knowing other better than they knew themselves.

"Erik." Erik could read Charles' surprise in the way his big, way too blue eyes widened ever so slightly. The way that smile wavered just for a second. "I didn't expect to see you here." Ever, they both knew hid beneath it.

"Yes." Erik nodded trying (and probably failing. He was never good at keeping his calm around Charles. Wasn't that why they broke up, in the end? Because he couldn't let himself feel so… human.) to hide his shock. "I didn't expect to see you here, either."

"Yeah." There was the barest hint of fondness in Charles' smile now, the way his eyes softened just a little bit. He looked strikingly beautiful, as ever. "I don't know if you heard it yet, but Raven is pregnant. Seven months along, already. A little boy."

He knew. Of course, Erik knew. Erik was the damn father. But Charles didn't know it yet, by the look of it. And how should he tell him — his ex-boyfriend, his brother-in-law — that he was the one who married his little sister? The one thing Charles vowed to protect before anything else? The one thing Charles loved even more than he ever loved Erik? (Erik never tried to tell himself Charles didn't love him; he did. He knew it, because he loved Charles as well. So much, it hurt. He just couldn't handle it. It was so much easier to run away).

So he didn't. At least, not at the moment. He just smiled back at him and nodded once more. "So you're buying her a gift?"

"Yes. You should know I'll spoil him rotten. I always wanted to do so for Raven, after all." Charles laughed silently, turning slightly to look at some toys. "I'll make sure he has anything he could want."

Damn. And now, Erik was feeling guilty. Erik knew about Charles' childhood — how his mother was sick in bed after his father died, how his stepfather always beat his mother and was never nice to him, how his stepbrother always bullied him, and how Raven was all he had before he finally reached the age to live on his own. He knew Charles wanted a family; Erik once dreamt about being Charles' family, about settling down with him and adopting with him.

But now — now Erik was Raven's family. And he loved her; Raven was amazing, so stunning and enchanting, with her laugh, heterochromia, and strong-will. She was a strong woman, really, and he loved her for it. But he sometimes missed sitting by the fire on Charles' library, drinking scotch and playing chess. (Raven was awful at chess). Erik wasn't Charles' family anymore, and he was stealing his only remaining family to top it all.

He should try to tell him that, before Charles discovered it in a really bad way. Before Raven heard about it in a bad way. So he opened his mouth, ready to tell him that, you know, Charles, how I said I wasn't the marrying kind? I must have been mistaken. I married Raven, your kid sister. I'm sorry for breaking your heart, I'm really sorry. And I'm sorry for not telling you before, but we were kind of in a hurry when we married, and out of country, and Raven wanted to make you a surprise. I should have known better, but I just went along. I'm sorry. Before he could utter a single word, however (and he didn't know if that was what he would say, really; was that good enough?), there was a hand on his shoulder, and he could recognize the gleeful squeal before she said anything substantial.

"Charles!" Raven proceeded to say, keeping one hand on Erik's shoulder, and the other on her own belly. "What a coincidence! How are you doing? I see you've found Erik. Have you two met yet?"

For a few seconds, there was only confusion in Charles' eyes. Then, slowly, understanding drowned them, making his eyes darken to a shade Erik knew too well. A shade he had hoped never to see again. "Erik. This is your husband Erik, Raven?" he asked quietly, voice devoid of any feeling in a way Erik knew meant he was hurt. "I — yes, yes, we've met. I just didn't know he was your husband. Must have escaped his mind; after all, he must not have realized I was your brother, right?" the sharpness of Charles' smile contrasted to the void in his eyes, and Erik flinched ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry", he could have said. Or even, "I was about to tell you, Charles, I swear", and that would be true. Instead, he did what he did best: he screwed it all. "Raven didn't show me any photos of you. Said something about it being a surprise, I think?" he chuckled apparently light-hearted, even if his heart felt filled with lead. "I'm sorry. Erik Lehnsherr, pleased to meet you. You are…?"

Erik knew he shouldn't have done that; that was the single worst thing he could have done, really. But he had already done it, and now he couldn't grab the words back, no matter how much he wanted to. So he was forced to see how Charles broke a little bit more inside, eyes completely devoid of any emotion as he smiled politely and shook hands with him, talking in a forced happy voice. "The pleasure is mine, Mr. Lehnsherr. Charles Xavier. I suppose this makes you Mrs. Lehnsherr now, Raven?"

Raven laughed, blessedly unaware of what had just passed between her brother and husband. Unaware that they were once lovers — that once Erik almost asked Charles' hand instead of hers, had children with Charles —, unaware that Charles used to call him "old friend" and "love", or that Erik called him "Schatz" and "Liebling". Unaware that Erik just shattered any chance of them ever being even friends anymore because of his stupidity. Unaware that her husband just killed part of what made Charles Charles, or that her brother would probably feel dead for a few days before deciding to forget Erik for once and for all. Unaware that Charles would one day hold her baby in his arms and cry for what could have been his (not out of hatred for Raven, no. He could never hate Raven. But he could be jealous of her, sometimes. Jealous of how she managed to tie the one person he ever really loved, to have the one thing he ever desired; jealous of how she had a husband and a child, and he had nothing). Unaware that her husband had just broken her brother.

Unaware she should be breaking up with Erik — because Erik felt he deserved it. Deserved to be alone forever, because he couldn't make it right. No matter if he was a boyfriend or a husband, he never managed to make the right choices, and he always took the easiest choices even if they were the most hurtful ones as well. Deserved to be shunned, because he kept breaking the first person to ever smile at him besides his mother; the one person that, even all those years after breaking up, still made his heart feel warm, and made him stumble with his words.

Because Erik loved Raven — God, he did —, but his first love was and would always be Charles. And even if he didn't held any hope before now to once have him back, even if he felt he could be happy with Raven, he didn't fool himself thinking he would ever forget about Charles. And now, now he just broke the most important person to him. And he didn't know if he could ever make it right.