Erik
Erik had been running late to pick Nina up, so he got to the school worried for keeping her waiting long. His worry changed quickly into concern and anger, when he spotted her sitting on another man's lap and chatting happily.
He was on his way to give that man a piece of his mind, - because really, who picked up unknown, innocent little girls and placed them on his lap? Granted he could be a member of the faculty, or another father who was there to pick his own daughter up, but that didn't mean he was a good person. Any creep could have a child - but all words were cut from his throat when the other man looked up and spoke his name.
"Charles?", he shot back with a frown that instantly turned into a small smile.
"Do you know my papa?", Nina asked astonished and looked up at the other man with her huge eyes "Kind of", he answered with his british accent that for some reason, made Erik's skin tingle.
"Well, this is a surprise", Erik said and Charles was now looking at him again, also smiling. "Indeed it is. You have a beautiful daughter", he said friendly, and lifted Nina up from his lap, placing her safely on the floor.
She immediately ran towards Erik, who picked her up and won a peck on his cheek, her little arms wrapping around his neck.
"Thank you", he answered and asked "You're here to pick your kid?", because he was curious, and didn't even know Charles was married. Not that it actually mattered for something, he just… didn't know.
"I'm actually here to talk to a teacher, my son's been giving some trouble", he answered not breaking eye contact, but then looked down and started putting Nina's paintings together, before placing them neatly inside her backpack and closing it.
"Don't they all?", Erik asked with a chuckle and wondered for a second what the hell happened with the bad mood that had followed him all through the day.
Charles laughed lightly at that and got up from his seat, offering Erik the pink bag, which he put on his free shoulder.
"Did your wife like the flowers?", he asked then, standing in front of Erik with his hands shoved inside his pockets "Yes, very much. Thank you again, I wouldn't have known what to give her".
Charles smiled, and Erik decided it was a sight for sore eyes. "I'm glad. That bouquet was inspired by the one I give my own wife when I need to apologize", he answered brightly and Erik nodded.
"You have good taste", he answered for lack of other things to say. A silence grew between them, bordering uncomfortable and he shifted Nina on his arms a little.
"Well, it was nice seeing you, Charles", he said sounding a little too sad for his own ears. Why did he want to stay there talking to him?
But when Erik was about to reach out and hold the other man's hand as a goodbye, Nina spoke up "No, papa! We can't go", she said shaking her head, her bangs moving in front of her forehead.
"Why not, prinzessin?", he asked and she looked at him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Charles waited with me. Now we wait with him", she said simply and Erik looked from her to Charles. It's not like he had anything else to do right now anyway.
"Of course, if he doesn't mind?", he asked the other man.
Charles
"Of course not", Charles smiled and offered Erik the seat next to him with a hand gesture. The other man sat down and put Nina on his lap, just like Charles did a few minutes ago.
"May I just ask, do you - by any chance - have German roots?", Charles then asked, remembering what Erik had called his daughter.
"How did you notice?", Erik asked, cocking his head to one side. Nina seemed happy that Charles noticed such a detail of their lives. Or she just enjoyed seeing them both talking …
"My stepfather was half german and I recognised the word for princess", Charles explained with a small smile.
"Yeah, we try to raise her bilingual but somehow only some words are sticking with her, nicht Nina?" - "Ja, Papa."
Charles smiled at that and leaned closer to Nina. "Knowing two languages at your age makes you really smart", he told her and watched her face light up with joy.
"And where do you come from? You have a british accent", Erik asked curiously.
"Oh, I have british roots, yes. But I was born in New York City, so I'm American", Charles answered and Erik nodded at that.
There was another slightly uncomfortable silence between them, so Charles quickly thought about what else to say.
"Do you come to the school play?", he asked, pointing at the poster he noticed at the wall.
"Papa has to come! I'm playing the fairy", Nina said and looked between the two man.
Erik
Erik smiled reassuringly at his daughter and answered "Of course I'm coming. Are you?" - "Yeah, David is playing too", he said with a nod of his head.
Right then, a door opened to their left, and a little boy with brown locks of hair peeked outside, his face lit up when he saw them and he called "Daddy? Mrs Hudson wants to speak to you now", and Charles' eyebrows shot up when he looked at Erik and Nina.
"Well, I must get going now. Thank you for staying, Nina" he told the little girl while holding her chin between his finger and thumb, making her giggle.
"You too, Erik", he completed locking eyes with him, making Erik's soul feel bare.
"Yeah, thanks for keeping Nina company", he answered as they both got up. Erik chanced a look at the little boy, but he wasn't at the door anymore, so he let it go. He had only gotten a glimpse of David, but it had been enough to see he looked a lot like his father.
"Will we see you at the play?", Nina asked wide-eyed and Charles smiled "I hope so", before giving Erik a nod and turning around, entering the classroom.
He stood at the corridor for a moment, holding his daughter on his arm, her backpack on his shoulder, and just stared at the door Charles had disappeared behind before shaking his head and walking away.
It had been nice to see the florist again. He seemed like a good guy, and Erik hadn't really talked to nice people much, apart from his family. He didn't have many friends, and found refreshing to chat with Charles.
Maybe that was why he agreed to stay a little longer when Nina had said they should. He wouldn't have stayed to keep company to anyone else.
Erik started the small walk from the school to his house, - Magda had stayed with the car, as usual - and seized the moment to tell his daughter once again not to talk to strangers and sit on their laps. No matter how nice the stranger looked. No matter how soft his hair seemed. No matter how kind his eyes were.
Charles
Charles shook hands with mrs Hudson and sat down, putting his son on his lap. He wasn't as calm as Nina was, while he held her, and Charles immediately wondered why.
"I wanted to talk to you about David, mr Xavier. I have reasons to assume that he suffers from a slight form of autism or ADHD" Charles looked at her, frowning and not really being able to follow.
"Come again?" - "I know, it's hard to process, but we handled quite a lot of children on our school so far and some of them are just too active for their own good. We just want to make sure to tell the parents whenever we suspect ADHD or any form of autism. In 90% of the cases we are right, but that only shows a test at the doctors."
Charles stared at David who was jumping up and down his thigh. His son looked around, searching for something to kill time with.
"Mr Xavier. This is no reason at all to worry. David can still stay at our school and we will make sure he'll get special treatment if the test will be positive. We, as a school for young children, just want to make sure that our kids will get the best education."
She kept on talking, but Charles' mind had wandered somewhere else. Had Moira and him really been that blind to not notice the behaviour of their son? Did that make them bad parents? What will be the consequences for David?
His mind was blank and yet so full of questions.
Magda
"So, how was school today, honey?", Magda asked during dinner, looking at her daughter.
Nina looked up from her plate and smiled.
"Great! Papa made a new friend", she grinned and Magda raised an eyebrow at her husband.
"Oh, is that so?", she asked, silently demanding an explanation.
Erik
Erik opened his mouth, his eyebrows raising as he scrambled for words.
'Not quite', he said defensively and didn't know why he was using such tone. It's not like having a friend was something wrong. It was only unusual of him and the three of them knew it. For someone to be Erik's friend… Well, that person had to be angelic. Which he thought Charles might be.
'I er… Met him at the flower shop and then again today at the school', he explained and Magda asked 'Him, huh?', because she couldn't contain herself.
She was a rather jealous woman and knowing Erik swang for both teams, didn't make things better. They had their fair share of fights about it.
He shot her a stern look and answered: 'Yes, and he was very interested in knowing if the flowers he put together helped me making it right with my wife'.
Erik hoped that answer was soothing enough, but it earned him a sad expression and Magda asked 'You didn't pick them yourself?', sounding hurt.
He felt his good mood quickly going down the drain, not understanding why his wife was being like that. 'I hardly know anything about flowers, do I? He helped, it's his job', he answered a little more sharply than intended, and Magda nodded.
She tried lighten up a little bit after that, which maybe it meant she realised she was putting up a fuss because of nothing.
'So, what's his name?', she asked casually and Nina answered more than happily 'Charles! He said my paintings are beautiful' - 'He is right', she confirmed.
'He married?' - 'Yes. He was at the school because of his son. I think he and Nina are the same age… They are on the same play together', he answered making an effort of keeping the conversation going, not wanting to stir other fights between them soon. But then again, that would just mean he would have to go to the flower shop.
'This weekend's play?', Magda asked and Erik nodded, putting food inside his mouth as an excuse to not have to say anything.
'I'm looking forward to meet him', she said at last and Erik almost choked on his food. Was it wrong that he wanted to keep Charles private? Something only for himself until he knew he had a solid friendship there?
It was too much of an assumption, of course. But Charles was nice enough, and so far he hadn't been scared by Erik's smile or his grumpiness. Not that he had been grumpy around ocean blue eyes.
Charles
When Charles told Moira what he had learned about David today, she took it almost the same way as he did. She had to sit down for a moment and Charles quickly sat next to her and embracing her in his arms.
"We need to get him tested first, darling. We shouldn't make assumptions right now. Besides, I learned a lot about it already and it isn't something you can't fight with therapy. I know, it sounds terrible at first, like our son is sick. But he isn't in pain or anything, so it could be worse", he said.
Moira nodded, her head in her hands.
"Autism, huh?", she asked and looked up, her eyes full of fear and worry. Charles nodded.
"But it could also be ADHD or we really just have an eager kid. Whatever it is, we need to make an appointment at the doctor." Moira nodded at that and Charles once again pulled her into his arms.
Magda
"So, about Charles", Magda started as she lay with her husband in bed.
She heard him groan and the sheets rustling as he turned away. It hurt her.
"Can you describe how he looks like?", she continued and waited for an answer.
"Long, brown hair and blue eyes. Shorter than me. That's all I remember", came his brusquely answer.
Magda knew he must have hidden some details, because this cannot be the only thing one noticed when they see a person twice and speak with them.
"Erik. Tell me more", she pleaded. She just couldn't stand her husband getting a new friend in a time when he only fights with his wife.
Erik
Erik closed his eyes and prayed for patience as he thought of what to answer.
Charles had the most incredible set of blue eyes Erik had ever seen. He had cherry-red lips, almost as if he had just been thoroughly kissed. He had a few creases on his forehead when he frowned or raised his eyebrows. He had this rough beard that asked for a trim, but somehow looked amazing on his face.
Charles had a slightly crooked nose, that looked adorable, - Erik never called anything adorable besides Nina. And he also had this short, compact body, graced with broad shoulders and thick thighs.
Needless to say, Erik was surprised about how many details his mind had managed to memorise about that stranger, and he knew he couldn't tell his wife all of that.
'You know I'm not good in noticing details', he said and Magda snorted. That was an understanding - Erik had barely ever noticed something different when she came back from beauty parlors and stuff.
'But he hm… He's got a beard. And he's rough looking for a florist, but when he talks he's nice. He's american, but has a british accent. And that's all I know', he answered hoping Magda would let it go now.
'What did you guys talk about?', she asked in a small tone and Erik would have groaned if he wanted a fight.
'Flowers' - 'And today?' - 'Is this an interrogatory? Am I not allowed to have friends?', he asked getting more and more annoyed by the second.
'Look Magda, you'll meet him this weekend at the play and see for yourself ok? I barely ever talked to the guy, for God's sakes', he bursted out and that was the end of it for that night.
Moira
Moira laid curled up next to Charles, enjoying her husband's warmth.
She was worried sick about David, but Charles had tried soothing her and she let him. He had had more time to adjust to the prospect and made it sound like it wasn't entirely bad, so she chose to believe him.
It was morning now, and she had woken up way earlier than expected, thinking about the phone call they would have to make now.
They needed to get an appointment as soon as possible and figure out what was wrong with David. With any luck, they would be able to fix it with therapies. Expansive therapies they didn't have the money for.
Well, there it goes the idea for another baby. Maybe for now though, how long it could take?
She looked over at her husband, and not for once wished he would cut that hair and take that beard off, looking more like he did when they met. Charles was still freaking gorgeous though so she didn't mind the change of looks, she just missed a time when he looked softer, younger, less worried.
'I can hear you thinking, you know', he surprised her by being awake and she pressed a kiss on his shoulder 'No, you can't'.
Charles
Charles got out of bed after caressing Moira for another ten minutes and walked into Hannah's room. They were lucky enough to have a house with three bedrooms, so both their kids had their own room. Having another child would not allow that anymore - no, he wouldn't think about that in the morning.
"Hello princess. Did you sleep well?", he asked as he saw that Hannah was already up. She nodded and smiled brightly at him, already wide awake.
"Can you dress up and come eat breakfast?", he asked. "Yes, daddy", she smiled like an angel at him.
Charles proceeded to wake David and joined Moira in the kitchen who was already putting cereals in a bowl and brewing coffee.
"Bagel?", she asked and Charles answered, "please."
They ate breakfast together with their kids and Moira carefully approached the topic the two adults had been avoiding all morning.
"Are you gonna make the appointment, hun?" - "Yes. I can call from work." Moira nodded and they went silent, listening to their children babble about their dreams.
When Charles went to work, he called the doctor and made an appointment next week.
Magda
On Saturday evening, Magda walked up to Erik and smiled at him. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Look what I've got us", she said and held out a blue tie for Erik and a matching, thin scarf for herself.
Erik frowned. "What is this?"
"Matching clothes. I thought it would be rather cute if we could wear those for Nina's play."
She was happy to see them in the store with Francesca on Friday, thinking it would be a cute way to tell they belonged to each other.
"C'mon, try it on", she smiled and wrapped the tie around Erik's neck in a loose way.
Erik
Erik wasn't a fan of color coordinating, and doing so made him feel like he was owned by someone else. But the smile on Magda's face made him believe she didn't do it in a bad way. Maybe she was doing that unconsciously, and she did look happy with the idea of them showing around they were together, so he tried the tie.
His wife beamed at him, and watched as he checked it on the mirror, getting closer and wrapping her arms around him. He liked seeing her like that, so he didn't mention it made them look a little like fools.
He took the tie off in order to go get a shower and start to actually get ready for the play, and went towards the bathroom after giving her a kiss on the forehead and saying "I loved it", with all the honesty he could muster.
He took a quick shower and changed into black pants, a white button-up shirt and his blue tie. Magda went to the shower after him, and Erik decided to check on Nina.
She was sitting on her bed chewing on her bottom lip, and he squatted down next to her, putting a calming hand on her knee.
"Are you nervous, my love?", he asked even though he knew the answer. She nodded and he held her chin, - just like Charles had done those days ago - looking into her eyes.
"You'll do great" - "What if I forget my lines?" - "Then you come up with new ones", he said calmly. "I can't do that papa", she shook her head.
"If you forget your lines, your teacher will help. And papa will be there to make it better, ok? I promise" - "Promise?" - "Yes", he sealed it with a kiss on her forehead, and proceeded to help her with her fairy fantasy.
When Magda came out from the room, she was wearing a pretty white dress with her blue scarf around her neck, and blue shoes that weren't the same tone, but matched.
"You look beautiful", he told her and won a kiss on the lips "You don't look bad yourself", she answered pulling at his tie with a possessiveness that didn't make him very happy.
Then, Magda started working on Nina's hair and her light makeup before the three of them left for the school.
Moira
Moira was practically running around the house, shouting orders to her family. It was required for the kid's on the play to get there earlier, and they were bordering on getting late.
"Charles? Is Hannah ready?", she asked as she tried to fix David's hair. The little boy's lips were moving rapidly as he tried to remember all his lines, and she smiled reassuringly at him.
"Almost", her husband yelled from their girl's room and Moira answered "Hurry up!" - "I'm trying to!".
It was only a few minutes later that they managed to leave for the school, and got there 10 minutes later than they should have, but still earlier than when the play was supposed to start.
David was immediately called by Mrs Hudson, and ran backstage, to meet his friends and talk to them.
Moira looked around then, and saw that the audience was still empty, only the parents of the ones who were playing were there so far. She turned her neck looking for the perfect spot to sit, and was about to ask Charles where he prefered, but noticed he wasn't looking for seats at all.
"What are you looking at?", she asked curious.
Charles
Charles saw Erik the minute he walked into the wide room with his wife clinging at his arm. He noticed their matching tie and scarf, wondering for a brief moment who still did such thing.
But his mind was quickly distracted by how good looking Erik was. The white button-up was highlighting his slim hips and contrasting them with his broad shoulders. The collar with the tie made his neck seem long and very - very kissable. His hair was gelled so it stood in up a little and looked kind of messy. He had trimmed shaved - much to Charles displeasure because he had rather liked his beard.
Completely lost in his thoughts about Erik, Charles didn't even understand the question from Moira, until she slightly tucked at his sleeve.
"Honey? What is it?", she asked confused and looked into the directing he was glancing.
"Uh- I saw someone I know. Let's say hi, shall we? I can introduce you", he quickly explained, already starting to walk towards Erik.
When he was ten feet away from the taller man, Erik seemed to finally see him too and a wide smile appeared on his lips.
"Charles", he said and gently touched the woman next to him on the arm to get her attention, before pointing at Charles and they both walked closer.
"Erik. It's good to see you", he said, wearing an equally wide smile on his face.
It was a moment they just stared at each other without saying anything, until Erik's wife suddenly cleared her throat and Erik snapped out of his stare.
"Oh, allow me to introduce my wife to you", Erik said, putting an arm around her waist that immediately lowered Charles heartbeat, "this is Magda."
The woman, who was about Charles' height, raised her hand and Charles shook it gently, smiling little at her. "Nice to meet you", she said in a foreign accent that didn't sound german, british or american.
"Pleasure", Charles answered and let go of her hand. Then he turned around to Moira and Hannah who was in his wife's arms.
"This is Moira, my beautiful wife, and our youngest child, Hannah." Moira smiled at the two strangers in front of her and made Hannah wave into their direction.
"Now, let's find a seat, shall we?", Erik said and Charles nodded eagerly, their two wives still very quiet and polite to the rest of the group.
They took a seat in the second row, so their children would see them when they were on stage, Charles sitting down next to Erik and Moira, and Magda next to her husbands. As soon as they sat down, Hannah climbed on Charles' lap, pressing herself into his chest. She was rather shy towards strangers, so she looked at Erik with huge blue eyes from behind Charles' collar of his navy blue button-down that was opened at his neck.
Her gaze fell to Erik's bright, blue tie that somehow caught her attention and she reached out with her hands to grab and play with it. Charles noticed that and looked at Erik to see his reaction, evaluating if he should tell her to stop or not.
"I'm sorry, she's in that grabby age", he apologised.
Erik
"That's okay", Erik answered softly and his gaze fell to Charles' exposed neck. There was just a little of his chest in display and Erik thought how unfair it was for that man to keep that button opened.
He quickly snapped out of it though and looked at Hannah "I'm used to it", he said not wanting to let the conversation die, and his hand flew up without his mind telling it to. For the tiniest second, Erik thought he was going to do something terribly wrong and irreparable, but his hand ruffled Hannah's dark hair, and his mouth formed the words "She's a beautiful girl, Charles".
"So is Nina, I see where she get her looks", he answered and Erik's breath caught on his throat.
He looked straight at bright blue eyes, his mouth hanging half-opened lacking words, until Magda moved a little next to him and said "Thank you, Charles", politely.
Oh, right. Magda. Charles had just met her, and now he knew where Nina's looks came from because Magda was beautiful. Right.
"I could say the same", Erik answered and won a small smile from Moira.
The audience was already filled up now, and the lights were turned off as a low song started playing from behind the curtains.
Erik and Charles ripped their eyes away from each other, looking over at the stage, waiting for the red drapes to open up.
It was five minutes in the play, when Nina made her first appearance. The funny thing, is that Charles' reaction to her was more excited than Erik's and Magda's.
"That's Nina!", he told his wife "Erik's, daughter. Isn't she pretty?" - "She is", Moira answered, and Charles looked towards Erik with a blinding smile.
Erik's face was a little tense though, and Charles asked "What?" - "I'm just nervous", he answered staring at the stage.
"Why?" - "She was scared when we left home, I don't want her to feel embarrassed". He was still looking straight at his daughter when he felt a warm hand patting him on the knee twice "She'll be fine", the silky british voice told him, and Erik believed so immediately.
A group of three other students entered the stage then and Erik asked "Is that David in the middle?", to which Charles nodded frantically "It is" - "He looks just like you", Erik pointed out, a small blush creeping on his cheeks.
"Thank you, my friend", the other man answered, and Erik was quickly brought back to Earth. Right, a friend. He needed a friend. Maybe one less good looking so he could actually look at him without thinking of how soft that hair must feel like between his fingers. Or how rough the beard would scrape the skin between his thig- don't go there, Erik.
Charles
David and Nina didn't do any mistake for the first half of the play. Other children however, made mistakes but no one laughed when 'the big bad wolf' was mixed up with 'a big bear' and a child in a wolf costume came on stage. All the parents were utterly proud of their children and so was Charles, when he watched David kissing the hand of the princess before he rode away on a stick pony.
When it was time for the break, the teachers and voluntary parents sold food and drinks from a large buffett. Moira got up from her seat and took Hannah into her arms who was starting to get tired.
"I'm gonna see if I can find a quieter place to get her some rest", Charles' wife said to which he agreed. Then they left and Charles was left alone with Erik and Magda.
"Darling? I'm hungry", Magda said quietly to her husband, but Charles understood however.
"Then go get you something?", Erik suggested. Wrong, Erik.
"Yeah, but Nina might come back" - "Then wait for her to come back and go then?"
If Erik continued like that, he'd have to stop by Charles' flower shop sooner than they both thought. Charles sighed and decided to help out.
"I can get you something. What do you want?" - "I'm vegetarian, so nothing with meat." - "Sure." Charles got up and walked out of the row of seats. "Oh, if David comes by, make sure to tell him I'm right back."
Then he walked to the buffet and searched for something without meat.
Magda
Magda glanced at her husband who just followed Charles with his eyes. She was a bit annoyed at her husband's behaviour.
"Erik? Can you stop eating Charles up with yours eyes", she said coldly, glancing at her husband.
Erik seemed to listen to that and turned her head towards here.
"Don't make a scene here, now. Charles is married and so am I. To you! So stop being jealous, Magda", Erik hissed, looking angry at her. She swallowed thickly at that.
"Well then stop looking at him like that! Besides, Charles could have an open marriage! He certainly looks like it", she answered, but Erik's eyes flew up when she was halfway through her sentence and she frowned.
"Me and my wife are in a monogamous marriage", she heard Charles' voice behind her and turned around, paling a little. "I brought you piernik - I believe that's how you pronounce it. You have a polish accent, don't you? I thought it was nice to have something polish to eat. I also brought some pasta salad."
Magda blushed furiously as she took the plate and mumbled a small "thank you", before Charles went on and sat down on his seat again.
Erik
Erik was a mix of angry and embarrassed. He hoped with every fiber of his body that Charles hadn't been close enough to hear Magda talking about how Erik looked at him. But that wouldn't make any difference in keeping the friendship alive at all.
Even if he didn't hear about it, he heard the rest and why on Earth would they be discussing about Charles' marital life if there wasn't something suspicious?
At least Charles was still sitting next to him. Was he too polite to leave now or was he just not that bothered by what he had just overheard?
He glanced at the man next to him, but Charles' eyes wouldn't meet his and Erik didn't want to say anything in front of Magda anymore. He suspected that even if he and Charles started talking about something as trivial as the weather, she would still read too much into it.
It was then, that Nina came running towards them, giving small little jumps.
"Mama, papa, did you see me? I didn't forget my lines!", she squeaked "I saw it, prinzessin. You were great up there!" - "Thank you!", she said with a huge smile on her face, and then, noticed Charles.
"Charles!", she yelled throwing herself at the other man's legs. Charles' hand immediately went towards her head and he caressed her "You were great, Nina!", he said, and Erik couldn't help the silly smile on his lips, the warmth spreading from his heart to his body.
David came running no two minutes later, and also threw himself on his father. Nina and he knew each other from school and opened small smiles.
"You know my daddy?", the little boy asked wide-eyed and Nina nodded, before she turned to her parents and said "This is my papa. And my mama", she pointed at them both and Erik smiled at David, saying "You were really good up there, David", making the boy blush.
A lock of hair fell from Nina's up-do and she looked at Magda with desperate eyes "Mama! My hair is messed up", she complained, her lower lip trembling slightly.
Magda that was almost done eating, put her plate down and stood up from her chair not looking happy about it. "Let's go to the bathroom fix it, love", she told Nina who held her hand and waved goodbye to Charles and David with the other one.
Another little boy shouted David's name, and he looked at his father asking for permission to go talk to his friend. Charles nodded at him and said "Don't go too far!", before David ran towards his friends.
They were both finally, - finally - alone now, and Erik looked at Charles feeling weary. Those enervating blue eyes met his, and Erik's mouth hung open not for the first time in the evening.
"I'm so sorry for what Magda said", he blurted out after what felt like forever. "We're just going through a rough patch and she's rather… possessive. Even though I never cheated on her. It doesn't help that I like men as well", he continued, wondering what the hell was wrong with him, and why had he just told Charles he was interested in men.
"So, uh. Sorry. I understand if you feel like hiding when you see me on the next plays", he attempted a small smile, but failed miserably.
Charles
"Why would I hide from you, Erik?", Charles answered, liking the way Erik felt sorry for his wife's behaviour - it showed that he was rather sensible and considerate. When Charles looked at the other man, he saw slight fear in his eyes that Charles wouldn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. But why would he?
"I'm sorry that you're going through a rough time in your marriage right now. But every couple does and it's rather hard for Moira and me as well. We'll get through this, you'll see", Charles tried to cheer Erik up and implying that he would want to stick around with Erik for a little longer.
He could very much see them becoming friends in the near future, even though Charles wanted so much more. He wanted to stick his tongue inside this sinful mouth, exploring every inch of it and - much rather - he would like to watch Erik's face when Charles thrusted into him.
Charles bit his lip to stop his thoughts right there and noticed Erik's eyes glancing down for a split second, before he met Charles' eyes again. It was enough to make Charles' imagination running wild as he imagined them snogging in the school's bathroom, like he did when he was a teenager.
"So um-", he started with a raspy voice and broke the sentence as it failed him completely.
Erik seemed to snap out of his gaze just then, leaning back as they had unintentionally came closer to each other.
"Yes, yes thank you. I hope so. And I'm really sorry again", he rushed to say. "It was nothing, really", Charles answered with a small smile lingering on his lips.
Both their wives chose to return just then, as the play started to continue and they watched the rest of it. Hannah slept peacefully on half Charles and half Moira, grabbing Erik's jacket somehow as well. When the play was over and everyone cheered and applauded, taking photos of their children in their costumes, Hannah woke up again.
Everybody got up and searched for their children and so did the little group. However, it was time for the inevitable goodbye and Charles turned towards Erik with a smile.
"See you around?", he asked and Erik nodded eagerly, giving him a somehow sharky smile.
"I'm sure we'll meet again", Erik answered.
Erik
But they didn't.
After the school play, Erik and Magda had gone home listening to Nina's excited chatter about how great the play had been, and how happy she was about it.
It warmed Erik's heart to see his little girl like that, but after he had parted from Charles, his bad mood had sunk in again. It felt even worse, like it was trying to get back at Erik for being happy for the past hour.
It was inevitable that when they got home, he and Magda had fought. He was mad because of her behaviour, and she was insisting she had done nothing wrong - even though she did blush when she remembered the slip in front of Charles.
Erik had slept on the couch that night, and on the three following nights as well, until Magda had apologised.
Usually he was the one to break first, not wanting to keep the atmosphere around the house heavy, and whenever Nina started realising something was wrong, he would run and ask Magda to forgive him. Not this time. This time he stood his ground, barely speaking to his wife until she admitted she had been wrong.
And Erik should have felt bad about the fact that she might have been onto something. Because if he could, God knows he would hold Charles up against a wall and fuck him raw. But still, after eight years of marriage he had never been unfaithful and he didn't plan on starting it now.
Besides, she had been rude with Charles, which just made him incredibly angry. No one should be rude with Charles.
He had volunteered along the week to take Nina to class more frequently in the morning. It wasn't easy for him to pick her up, seeing he would have to leave work earlier to do that, so he found himself waking up and getting an energy ball ready and in primary school in impeccable time.
He hadn't met Charles there during the following week, though. Never bumped into him or caught a glimpse of David running around, and it made his heart shrink.
It was not until friday night when Erik was in bed next to Magda, that he concluded three things.
She had unsuccessfully tried to have sex for the first time since their fight on saturday, and Erik had turned her down finding he wasn't aroused at all, which made him discover that yes, he was still a little mad. He couldn't understand why. It hadn't been that bad of a thing, but it had crawled under his skin and made his blood boil, so he wasn't being quick to forgive yet.
Then, when they turned their backs on each other, he realised he had been more aroused merely thinking of Charles' mouth than with actually feeling his wife's on his body.
And last, he concluded that meeting Charles all those three times had felt like fate. Like they were both supposed to be there at that right place, in the right time, to simply see each other. But Erik had figured out a long time ago, that even if it had given him the most gorgeous daughter, the universe wasn't fond of him. So maybe… maybe he should just look for Charles. He did know where the man worked.
He shook his head. One more week. He just had to give the universe another week to bring them together. If it didn't, then sod the fucking destiny. He would go to the flower shop again because he did need a friend. And maybe his wife did deserve a whole lot of flowers.
