2
He avoided Erik and the newcomer for the rest of the week. Occupied himself with anything he could find, went for long runs, spent enormous amounts of time in the gym and Danger Room, did extra work for his classes and even attended the optional ones the following weekend, anything to keep his mind busy. Nobody could even speak to him, he was so jumpy, racing off in the middle of sentences with no warning, only staying still for any length of time when he'd thoroughly exhausted himself and would fall gratefully into bed. Didn't feel like proper food, ate chocolate by the pound instead, spent a lot of time feeling nauseous but still couldn't face anything more substantial. Got out of the Mansion as much as he could, never to be found in the common room or his bedroom, though nobody knew exactly where he had got to. Angela had got tired quickly of people asking her where her boyfriend was, what was wrong with him, eventually snapping at them that she might call him Puppydog but she didn't actually keep him on a leash, and that if they wanted to know what was wrong with Peter they should probably ask him.
Despite his best efforts at evasion, however, the Mansion wasn't big enough for him to avoid his father forever, and he had almost walked straight into him one afternoon when he hadn't been looking where he was going, too occupied with the whirlwind in his head. Turned on his heel the second he'd seen Erik standing there, and run straight into the door that Erik had pulled closed in front of him. Peered up into the upside-down face that loomed over him, and decided not to try to escape again.
"Are you alright?" Erik asked, offered a hand to get him to his feet. Peter nodded, stood woozily, shoved hands into pockets and stared glumly at the floor. "I've been trying to pin your down all week, what's the matter with you?"
"Nothin'" Peter mumbled. Still wouldn't look up. He'd spent days trying to work out what the weird mess of feelings inside him meant, but it had taken actually being confronted by his father to crystalise it into something he could identify.
"Well it's obviously not nothing. You look sick, and you're tearing around like a Tasmanian devil. Why don't you come out for some lunch with me, I'm concerned"
"Not hungry," Peter said dismissively, tried the door. Erik held it closed.
"You're always hungry"
"No, I'm not, and as it happens I don't feel too good just now so would you just let me out of here, Dad?" he demanded, "I'm serious, I feel like I'm gonna hurl"
"Again?" Erik asked sharply, "Have you seen Hank? Don't you think –"
"Dude, just let me out, OK?" Peter said exasperatedly. Erik was stung by the look he gave him, something hurt and angry reflected in his eyes. Let the door go and his son bolt away down the corridor, resolving to keep him still that evening come hell or high water. He knew of course that all this had something to do with Nina, but couldn't for a moment fathom why Peter was reacting like this. He loved children, he had sisters already, was happy to act as Older Sibling to every one of the youngest students, was good with kids in a way that only someone with his energy and affection could be. So why was he acting this way?
It hadn't been easy for Erik, being parted from Nina for all that time. Leaving her safely in the care of her late mother's family, only daring to at last go to fetch his beloved daughter once he was certain the repercussions of Apocalypse's hostile takeover had died away. Had travelled back with her with fantasies of uniting his scattered family at last running through his head, too pleased to have her back to even consider that his son would not take well to the idea. Perhaps he should have waited, he thought. Let Peter get to know the girl before he had told him of their blood relationship. But the news felt so good to Erik that he hadn't been able to hold it back. Instead of being happy though, Peter had run from it. Was still running from it.
Running was exactly what his son was doing just at the moment. Far away from the Academy by the time Erik had gone down to his youngest daughter's room to check on her, speeding out of the environs of New York City a minute later. Stopping when he reached a quiet spot in the Catskills that was his favourite thinking place when he truly needed to get away from everything. Flopping down into the shade of a tree to rest his aching feet for a while. He hadn't been bluffing, he really wasn't feeling too well, knew he should have something proper to eat instead of relying on Hank's shakes and huge bars of chocolate, but really didn't feel up to it just at the moment. The awful tornado of feelings was too fast even for him to catch it, seeming to fill his whole body with tension and anxiety, continually feeling like he'd just taken a punch in the gut. His Dad couldn't be that stupid, could he? He couldn't possibly have thought Peter would just happily accept that he'd wandered off, left his pregnant mother, and found some other woman with whom he'd had another child.
Whilst for some time now, Peter had been able to push down the thought of how his father had walked out and left his mother with twin mutants to somehow try to handle, had not been there when Wanda was struggling with her emergent powers or when Peter was sick as a kid. Had concentrated on the here and now, enjoyed the civility between Magda and Erik and the time he could now spend with his father. Had forgiven him for what he had done. Now though? Now he was furious that he had found somebody else. Having finally worked out that confused, whirling stew of emotion that had been stopping him resting or thinking straight, Peter now realised that uppermost in it was a sense of betrayal that his father had gone on to find happiness with someone else. Not jealousy – nothing so small as that – but real, sickening anger that instead of staying with Magda, he'd gone off with another woman.
Always thinking better on the move, he'd forced himself to walk back at a leisurely pace until he'd found a diner. Taken a seat inside, didn't bother flirting with the waitress, picked at some fries until he'd been aware of a pair of eyes on him and looked up.
"Do you mind if I join you?" Erik asked. Took a seat without waiting for a reply. Peter stayed quiet, pushed away the rest of his fries. His stomach hurt from all that emotion. Didn't look up at his father.
"How'd you find me?" he asked quietly, "Professor X told you?" Erik nodded.
"Charles can almost always find his students, Peter. You should be glad he can, it could keep you out of trouble"
"Well I guess I should be glad about a lot of things" the boy said bitterly. Again, Erik was taken aback by the raw feeling in his eyes. He looked like he'd been crying. "Whaddya want anyway?"
"I want to know why you were so upset by Nina. It was… unexpected"
"Unexpected?" his son repeated, barked a short humourless laugh, "Really? You left my Mom, man. That was bad enough. Now I find out you went and played happy families in Poland? That's not cool, Dadneto. Not cool at all"
"Peter please, let me explain –"
"What's to explain?" he interrupted, "I don't have any choice here do I? You've dumped a little kid on me and now I have to play big brother to some brat I've never even met, all the time thinking about how you left me and Wanda"
"It wasn't like that!"
"Well what was it like, then?" he asked, quietly seething. He was hurt now, rather than angry, "You were planning to come back, but you got held up and just decided to have another kid instead?"
Peter sighed heavily, rested his head on his arms on the table. Erik wanted to pat his shoulder comfortingly, but refrained. In his current mood, he wouldn't put it past Peter to just run again if he tried to touch him. After a moment he realised his son's shoulders were hitching with little sobs, his voice thick and teary as he said
"I don't even mind the kid, Dad. I'm sure she's great, and I'll look after her I promise. Just how could you have done that to us? We needed you! *I* needed you… and you… you weren't there"
So upset and overcome, Peter did not protest when he felt Erik move to take the chair beside him and put an arm around him, finally unable to bear his son's tears without intervening. Desperate for the comfort, Peter moved closer and took hold of the hand that rested on his shoulder, tried to sniff back his tears. Tried to be brave and not cry yet again in front of his father.
"I'm sorry," Erik told him, "I can't do any better than that, but I am genuinely so sorry"
He allowed Peter to weep against him until his tears had exhausted themselves, handed him a napkin when he was done. Anybody else, Erik would have been a little frustrated at the ease with which they could be reduced to sobbing, but he knew how emotional Peter could get and felt that sometimes, it was best for him to just get it out of his system.
"Can I drive you back to the Academy?" he asked. Peter nodded, "Do you want something to eat first?"
"No... thanks and all, but I'm really not feeling good. I'll see Hank tomorrow, but it's just my emotions. Makes me kinda sick when I get really upset"
"Please do that" Erik said, concerned, "Let's go home – you look exhausted"
He allowed his father to lead him to the car, silent for much of the drive back. Gladly fell into bed as soon as they arrived home, planning to try meeting Nina again as soon as he felt a little less off-kilter.
