One:Dream Jobs

Charles was coming with another I-live-a-normal-life exercise for the children, and he decided they all should sit in a big circle and talk about what they wanted to be when they got older, other than a superhero, of course. Being that these kids were only seven that would be very hard to get out.

"Okay. I'm a professor; when I was little, I wanted to be one. Your daddy Erik is a fashion designer; he designed the world's best selling turtleneck. That's what he wanted to do when he was little. What about you guys?" Charles opened up.

"I want to be a mermaid!" Armando said.

"Now, Darwin, you know you can't be that." Charles said before he realized that, under the perfect circumstances, Armando could be that. "I… well… what do you want to be so you can get money?"

"The president!" Raven said.

"I want to be a scientist." Hank said introvertedly.

"Like you could be that, Bozo." Alex said sarcastically.

"Now, Alex-"

"I want to be a dancer!" Angel announced.

Charles was losing control, until he realized that the one person he hadn't called on was Sean.

"Sean!" He called.

"I want to be a singer!" Sean exclaimed, while he jumped up and down.

"You. Are. So. Gay." Alex said. "Like you'll ever be that! I have the least hope out of everyone in you!"

Charles decided he had to shut this operation down, even if Alex hadn't told everyone what he wanted to be.

Two:Crush

There was an inescapable part of being ten: the ultimate crush. It was a cute thing for little pre-teen mutants to fancy each other, and, as it turned out, they had quite a complicated system of crushes.

Alex was kept to himself. He didn't seem to have any crushes; however, he would brighten up and even reach out a little to Sean.

Raven and Hank had a bit of a thing going on: they were always clinging to each other, complimenting each other. However, Hank also obviously had a teeny tiny crush on Alex. … And Sean.

Darwin and Angel were also a bit of a thing, even though Angel often would flirt with both Raven and Sean. Darwin also seemed to like Alex a bit; Alex was very popular with other guys.

Little Sean was with everybody: he flirted with Raven and Darwin, he'd whistle at Angel when she practiced flying, he and Hank would give each other weird looks and make witty comments at each other, but he definitely had a favorite crush. Charles didn't even have to read his mind to know, especially since the one instance he totally caught Sean staring at Alex undress through the keyhole in his door.

Three:Boys

When the kids were eleven, the girls had been sent away to day camp for a weekend, leaving the boys to be alone for a weekend.

Darwin, Hank, Alex, and Sean thought it would be great for the girls to be away for a weekend.

They played cops and robbers, football, anything you imagined little boys would play.

But when they were wrestling, Charles didn't know if it should be cute or shocking that Sean leaned down and kissed Alex on his mouth.

And he certainly didn't know what it should be when Alex leaned up and kissed Sean back.

Four:Dating

When the kids turned fifteen, they all paired off to start dating.

Raven and Hank were together, and Angel was even dating Sean. It was cute, but the sweetest couple Charles had ever seen was Darwin and Alex. Charles would lie in bed with Erik and night, and just smiled, and when Erik asked why, Charles could only always reply, "Darwin and Alex are so cute!" Erik would give the gayest reply ever, "Not as cute as you."

Charles thought it was all perfect.

Except there was one fatal flaw- Sean.

Sean seemed happy with Angel, sure. But Angel was really promiscuous and she kept bothering Sean about his virginity, and even he knew he could do better. But that wasn't it, really. What really got him down was Darwin being with Alex.

Alex and Sean were still best friends, undoubtedly. They did everything together, and they knew each other better than anyone else.

But Charles didn't even have to read his mind- it was in the look in his eyes when he saw Alex, especially with Darwin, that Sean wanted to be with him.

Five:Cheating

When the kids were sixteen, Darwin went around moping, but he had a good reason: Alex had cheated on him. What's worse, it was with Hank. At this time, Hank was dating Raven, too, causing more drama. In their defense, they had both been drunk (causing them to be grounded by Charles, of course), but it still bothered their partners.

Sean was shocked, of course, Charles could tell. However, Sean was hoping this would mean Darwin and Alex were over—he had no such luck. Darwin decided to forgive Alex and give him another chance.

Raven, however, broke up with Hank. Even better for Sean, Angel dumped him… for Raven.

Sean was miserable, but Alex told him the same thing he always told him—"I love you, man. I'll be here for you."

Sean had high hopes that could mean something.

Six:Death

When everyone was finally eighteen, Charles had to make the worst phone call ever:

"Hello, Ms. Muñiz? It's Charles, your son's teacher. How have you been? That's good. Look, I have some bad news. First things first, your son was gay. I don't consider that bad news but he was always scared to tell you, and he would… he promised himself he'd tell you at some point… Yes, Ms. Muñiz, I said 'was.' Alex, his boyfriend, another student here, was driving him to the store to get some food we needed, and… well, a man named Sebastian Shaw had been driving the other truck and he was drunk… Alex is fine, not a scratch on his body… your son, however, suffered a few fatal wounds… I'm so sorry, Ms. Muñiz."

When Charles hung up the phone, he heard knocking. Not on his door, but in Alex's mind.

"Yeah?" Alex said.

"I-it's Sean."

"C-come in." Alex had obviously been crying.

"You remember how when we were little you told me you doubted I could be a singer more than anything else?" Sean said. He was holding a guitar, Charles could tell.

"I-I'm… sorry…" Alex trailed off.

And then Sean started playing him music, and it was good music. And Charles could tell that Alex thought that maybe it would all be okay.

Seven:Mixed Signals

Alex, since then, had been giving everyone mixed signals; he was dating Hank on and off, while giving and taking back love confessions for Sean. Sean obviously still loved him more than anything or anyone else.

But Alex wouldn't settle down, and only Charles really knew how he felt.

If he told the children, though, that might make it worse.

He didn't want to rush things, but he could only tell Sean that he meant a lot more to Alex than he ever thought he did, but not to let that get his hopes up.