AN: Sorry for the wait, life's been a bit hectic recently. Also, I've made a small change to chapter 2.Erik only intends to drive away at the end, and does not actually do so before the chapter ends.
Charles Xavier was alone. And not only that, he was desperately lonely, and there was no point in denying it. Of course, it wasn't exactly unusual for him to feel that way; his whole childhood before meeting Raven had been spent alone. With a distant mother and a cruel stepfather, Charles had been left mostly to fend for himself. Then he'd met Raven though, and all of sudden his days had become much brighter. But now he once again felt the cold loneliness of his childhood, ironically stuck in the same house as where he'd grown up.
It had been two months since Erik and Raven had left them, left him bleeding on that beach. Two months filled with loneliness and despair of losing both his sister, his friend, and the use of his legs. The first few weeks had been spent at the hospital, where he'd undergone three different, but equally painful, surgeries, only to be told that there was no hope for him to ever use his legs again. After that he'd returned to the mansion, his future school, so filled with memories of happier times. The return had been almost more painful than being shot (and he would know, he still woke up from nightmares and memories of the bullet entering his back), all the memories he had of the place constantly reminded him of what he'd lost. During only a few short weeks he'd created so many memories together with Erik, who'd become, for what it was worth, his best friend. Still was his best friend, Charles mind corrected, even if Erik didn't seem to agree. Not to mention all the memories he had of growing up at the mansion with Rave. Of happier days where they actually got along, and did not constantly fight.
Charles could acknowledge the he had royally fucked up his whole relationship with Raven, and he knew that her leaving had been inevitable, but it still hurt. He'd only wanted what he thought was best for her, and in the end that had been what drove her away. Someday, Charles promised himself, he would try to mend his relationship with his sister again, so that even if their opinions differed they would still part as friends.
Soon after his return to the mansion, Moira had left to continue her work with the CIA. Charles had wiped her memories, but not before giving her a kiss. Sometimes he regretted it, but he had been aware of Moira's feelings for him, and knowing that he was about to delete all her memories of him, it felt right to give her some sort of goodbye. The thing was that Charles did not return the feelings. Moira was an attractive woman and he liked her, of course he did, but more as a friend than anything else. And not nearly in the same way as he liked Erik.
Charles had known ever since he was young that he liked both boys and girls. He had also known from an early age this was perceived as wrong by most of society. And for a long time he hadn't acted upon it, choosing instead to only focus on his attraction to girls. But then he'd gone to Oxford, and met others just like him. Suddenly he realised that there was nothing wrong with him, and during his years there it was just as likely that he went home with a man as with a woman.
Then there was Erik, and from the moment he first touched the other man's mind Charles had been completely swept away by his feelings for him. He knew of course that Erik did not feel the same, that what he felt was purely friendship. And most of the time Charles was fine with that, having Erik as a friend had been better than not having him at all. Now that Erik had left though, Charles's feeling for him only amplified his loneliness.
He had to admit that he felt sort of ridiculous for feeling lonely all the time though; Hank, Sean and Alex was still there, and soon the school would open and his students would arrive. His childhood home would become the safe haven for mutants that he'd always dreamt of creating, where other mutants could be taught not only to control and better understand their powers, but also how to use them for good. The dream felt hollow now, even though it was about to become true. Mostly because he'd thought he shared it with Raven and Erik, and when he'd imagined the future the three of them had always been together. Without them he found himself less enthusiastic to finally begin working. And he couldn't help but to feel lonely, even with the others there. Sure, they were his friends, but most of the time he still saw Alex and Sean as students rather than friends, and Hank still kept himself locked up in the lab more often than not. Charles suspected that he wasn't completely comfortable in his new body yet, and Alex incessant teasing didn't help either. He should probably talk to them both about it, but Charles couldn't bring himself to do it. If even getting out of bed was hard some days, having a serious conversation where he was supposed to be the adult felt nearly impossible. So he stayed in his room or in the library, stuck in his wheelchair and desperately missing the only two people who could possibly ease his loneliness and boredom.
Charles was very aware that he wasn't supposed to miss Erik, or Raven for the matter, but he still did. They had left him paralyzed, bleeding, and in pain without even a second glance. Erik had stolen not only Charles's sister, his legs, and his heart, but also his optimism and his hope, and for that Charles should hate him. But he couldn't bring himself to hate Erik, he cared too much for him. Love, a small part of his mind whispered, the reason why you can't hate him is because you love him. But Charles couldn't admit that either. There was no point in doing it anyway, Erik was gone, and would probably never return.
But that particular day, something happened. Charles had been sitting by the window in the library, not looking at anything in particular, and thinking about whether or not he should make himself a cup of tea, when he suddenly saw a car approaching the gates of the estate. At first he didn't recognise the car, it wasn't one that belonged to him or the school, nor was it a standard CIA car, and for a moment he worried that whoever the guest was, they weren't welcomed. It also worried him that he couldn't feel the mind of whoever was in that car. Then a familiar figure stepped out, and Charles had never wanted to be out of the bloody chair more than in that moment. He wanted to be able to run down the stairs, and greet the familiar figure. Because the man stepping out of the car was no other than Erik Lensherr, wearing his damned helmet and a cape of all things. To say that Charles was surprised was no understatement, he had no idea what the man he hadn't hurt from for two months was doing here?
Erik had only taken a few steps from the car, when he suddenly froze. The look on his face was obscured by the helmet, and Charles could only watch as he turned around toward the car. Charles started wheeling himself out of the library, towards the elevator Hank had installed only a few weeks ago. Erik was about to leave, and Charles wouldn't let him do that. He needed to speak with him again, and possibly punching him in the face. Because all of sudden he felt was angry with the other man, his whole body tingling with rage. He might not hate Erik, but that didn't mean that he wasn't absolutely furious with him, he just hadn't realised it until he finally saw Erik again.
Just as Charles was about to exit the library a blurry, blue, shape came from the main entrance to the house and ran towards Erik. It was Hank, who'd apparently had the same idea as Charles to stop Erik, but seemingly intended to do it in a more violent way. He tackled Erik from behind, and grabbed his neck in a chokehold. Erik fought back furiously, and Charles could feel all the metal in the entire house rattle. But even though Erik was stronger than most Hank easily overpowered him, and started to continuously smash his head against the ground. After a moment his body went slack, and Charles realised that was enough. He lifted his hand to his temple, a gesture that felt familiar even though it served no real purpose, and implanted a strong suggestion of "Stop!" in Hank's mind. Hank froze immediately, and Erik's limp body fell to the ground.
"But, professor…" Hank thought "He might try to hurt you. He already has hurt you"
Charles didn't have a good answer for that, so instead he settled for:
"I wasn't going to let you kill him. Bring him inside and put him in his old room." Charles could feel Hank's reluctance, but that wasn't going to stop him. He wanted to talk to Erik, ask him why he'd come here, and what he'd been up to during the past two months. Maybe he wanted to ask him to come back as well, but he didn't want to think about that. Not when it was quite possible that as soon as Erik had recuperated from the massive concussion he was bound to have, he would leave. So maybe Charles was selfish, but he wanted to keep Erik with him for as long as possible.
"Just do it." he told Hank, when the other mutant started to protest. It was probably a terrible idea to let Erik stay with them; Hank's first reaction upon seeing him had after all been to attack. But Charles had made his decision, and that decision was final. With a sigh, he wheeled himself out of the library and towards the corridor where Erik's old room was. The next few days would without a doubt become very interesting.