A/N: Almost done guys! One more chapter and an epilogue! I know chapters are kinda short, but I really hope you've enjoyed it! It's great to read your reviews and they really mean a lot to me! Please keep it up!

Disclamer: Not my stuff people! Chapter title comes from Just Pretend by the Bens.

Chapter 9 - Well I Held You With Our Un-Dry Eyes

The thing that Erik couldn't shake was the fact the Raven had given her permission.

Now he just needed to figure out what he would do with that permission.

...

The Xaviers were right on time the next Tuesday. It had only been less than 3 days since he was at their house, but it seemed like so much longer. They were back in what he now figured was Raven's car, but only Charles got out. The car never drove away, meaning that Charles was once again by himself.

Charles eagerly took a seat on his stool behind the counter. Erik didn't know when this behavior became routine, but he couldn't find himself caring. He went back into the office, grabbed another stool, set it right next to Charles, and sat down. As he propped his feet up on the counter, Charles followed suit and did the same.

During their conversations, neither ever brought up Sunday morning. It was a unconsciously determined no-man's-land.

"I had fun on Saturday," was the most either of them said.
"Yeah, me too," was their only response.

When Erik noticed the proximity between them, he felt slightly light-headed. Their stools were so close they were nearly sharing. Somehow their feet managed to move towards each other, therefore then causing their legs to also be bumped up right next to each other.

He did have Raven's word.

It'd be easy.

A simple Charles, wanna get a drink sometime?

He could do it ri-

"Hey Erik?"

Damnit Angel.

"Yes?" he snarled, but kept his glaring to a minimum due to Charles' presence.

"Your stool is in the way," she said with her arms crossed.

Erik looked down, and, sure enough, his stool was on top of a stack of papers that Angel apparently needed. That didn't mean it required interrupting him.

He moved his stool and gave Angel the cold shoulder the rest of the day.

...

Charles was laughing again. Erik loved it. It was calm, soothing, and genuine. Different from anything else Erik had ever known in his life. And it was becoming easier to cause by each day.

He could do it now. He could ask him to a movie. It wouldn't be that big of a deal. Charles had taken him to a concert.

The man in consideration was currently halfway through another very animated story from his childhood. "...and then, trying to prove Cain wrong, I allowed Raven to die my hair. It's the only time in my life I wished I would have listened to him. Then I wouldn't have had to deal with the wrath of the kids at school when they saw my pink hair."

The image of a small Charles with pink hair made Erik snort. "I think you could pull it off."

"You'd be the only one. Even Raven thought it was Beauty School Drop-Out worthy."

The Grease reference made him grin. He was going to ask. Now. "Hey, Charles I was wondering if yo-"
Charles phone began to ring in his pocket. He held up a hand to silence Erik. "Hello? Oh Raven! Yes! Oh, I believe it is my night, I'm terribly sorry, I completely forgot. Would you mind making dinner tonight? Yes. Alright. Thank-you. Love you too Raven. See you later." He hung up and looked towards Erik. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

Erik just got screwed by a phone call about who was making dinner. "Nothing. I forgot."

"Oh, that's too bad. I'm sorry."

...

"No, but the worst part was, that I was right. Ms. Grey had called in the principal and everything, but me - the 7-year-old second grader - had done the AP calculus problem right over the teacher. As a punishment, I was switched to a different teacher, who taught in the grade ahead of me," he finished with a chuckle.

Great, so now Charles was a child-genius too.
"Would you like to get din-"

Crash.

"Erik's going to freakin kill you!" Alex yelled at Hank before Erik could get over to the area where Hank just knocked over a shelf of new CDs.

...

If it wasn't obvious by the previous events of the day, Erik decided that he was not meant to ask Charles out that day. That didn't mean he wasn't going to continue to try.

There was the time a customer so rudely interrupted him. What were they thinking? How dare they assume he felt like doing his job today.

Another time Janos cut them short by asking what kind of sub they wanted. He later interrupted when delivering said subs.

At one point Alex broke the stereo and all they were getting was earsplitting static.

Raven called again asking where the recipe for spaghetti was. Who needs a recipe for spaghetti?

A girl scout stopped in selling cookies.

The UPS man had a package.

Luck was not on Erik's side.

But now the shop was closed. Everyone had gone home. It was just him and Charles. No one was going to interrupt them.

Charles was going on about another story about something Raven and he did. Then it was going to be his turn. Then he was going to ask.

"...and I don't know what'd I'd have done with he-"

"Charles would you like to go an-"

"-iss her while I'm at Oxford."

Wait, what?

"What?" they said simultaneously. "I'm sorry. I thought you were done. What were you saying?" Erik asked, hoping he was hiding any panic he was currently feeling.

"Oh, I was just finishing explaining how I'm going to miss Raven when I'm away at Oxford. What were you saying?"

He dodged the question. "You're going to Oxford?"

"Well yes! I got accepted for my Doctorate. I leave next Friday! Didn't I tell you?"

There was so much wrong with his answer, but Charles didn't seem to notice any of it.

His heart fell to his stomach. His muscles lost their strength. His eyes became heavy and he used any strength left to hold them open. He felt like he was a foot tall and wanted to hide in a corner.

"You must have forgot..." Erik mumbled, hunching over into a ball. How did Charles forget to bring up that he was going to England?

Had Erik been looking up, he'd have seen the pain in Charles' eyes. "I'm truly sorry, my friend," he said, resting a hand on Erik's shoulder. "I really hate to do this to you, but supper should be done soon. I must be going. I'll see you Tuesday."

"Bye..." he stuttered to a closed door.

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