Chapter 10

We keep this love in a photograph

We made these memories for ourselves

Where our eyes are never closing

Hearts are never broken

And time's forever frozen still

Photograph-Ed Sheeran

The next afternoon, Charles and Moira were standing in front of the man's grandfather's house and she admired it. The house was large and elegant, in a remote part of the town and surrounded by large trees.

"Wow Charles, it's so peaceful!" What she wanted to say was has your family always been so rich, but she didn't want to offend him and knew he wouldn't be reading her mind without permission.

"If you liked it then you will like the mansion in Westchester. It's totally far from the town and is surrounded by fields and trees. C'mon, let's go." Charles gestured with his hand, then wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her inside.

Despite having been uninhabited for several years, Charles and Raven, with the help of Erik and Magda had cleaned the house the previous morning and the windows were open letting the air come in.

"Charles, Moira!" Raven ran down the stairs and embraced her brother, before kissing Moira's cheek.

Charles knew Raven might be feeling a little lonely in the house, but he couldn't sleep out of the base always and to Magda, who had settled in the boutique of Moira's grandfather's friend, the house was too far from the boutique, but seeing several magazines and the vinyl records around the living room floor, the oldest Xavier knew she was fine there.

"I'll leave you guys alone."

"No need to, Raven, I've just came to visit the place." Moira said, but Raven smiled, turning to her brother.

"Actually, I was wondering if you would let me go in a city sightseeing, Charles?"

"Alone, Raven?" Charles asked, frowning, not liking the idea. "You've only been here once, and you were too young to remember it. It's dangerous to let you go alone."

Raven frowned, crossing her arms, ready to say that mere humans were no match for her when Moira had an idea:

"Charles, why don't you ask the boys to go with her?"

"It's a good idea, but I don't know if they'll agree..."

"Oh, believe me brother, it's me who'll be doing a favor to go out with them." Raven said, smirking and Charles nodded and after calling the base, as Sean, Alex and Hank were with the day off, as they had worked until morning, just like him.

The three agreed to go with Raven to the city, excited to go out with her, but maintained some respect, both because it was the younger sister of their mentor, but also because they had learned to be like him when it was about women.

When the trio stopped in front of the house, in a jeep that Alex had taken from the base, they greeted Charles and Moira, before Alex turned to Raven and asked:

"And what do we do first?"

"Cinema." Raven said, and he and Sean groaned, anticipating some melodramatic romance, but the blonde put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow. "Just because I'm a woman it doesn't mean that I just watch romance. I want to see a science fiction movie. With a lot of action!"

"Wow..." Hank said, surprised, as this was his favorite genre. "There's a fictional movie I really want to see, Raven." She turned to him, smiling to see he enjoyed the same kind of movies that her and he felt his heart beat faster.

"Guys, we better get going, so it'll become late and we have to return to the base." Sean suggested and the group agreed, heading to the jeep and, adjusting his glasses, Hank stepped in front of Raven, opening the door for her.

Admiring the boy, she touched his shoulder, entering in the car.

"Thanks, Hank."

"You're welcome, Raven."

Inside the house, alone, Charles held Moira's hand while showing the house to her. Upstairs, where were his grandparent's old suite and the guest room, they passed by Raven's bedroom and then Charles' old room.

Entering, she saw a bed with tidy sheets, antique furniture and a shelf with some books and comics, as well as miniatures of airplanes and cars and Moira smiled, touching the toys and Charles ran a hand through his hair, saying awkwardly:

"I didn't even remember I had these toys here."

"Oh Charles, everybody keeps something from childhood." She reassured him, turning to him. "It's cute, I'm just trying to imagine you as a child."

"I was cute." The man say, approaching the shelf where Moira was, pushing some of his comic books and toys aside and removing an old picture frame.

The small picture frame in black and white showed a beautiful little boy of 8, with wavy hair and a huge smile on his face, sitting on the floor of his room, surrounded by toys and holding a periodic table.

"Always a student..." She said, still staring at the picture and running her fingers over the face of the younger Charles and the man then said smiling gently:

"Keep it for you, I almost don't come here." Surprised, but pleased, Moira agreed, putting the picture in her purse and then she saw the glow of a metallic object inside.

"I almost forgot." She said, patting her forehead and removing the keychain from her purse and handing it to him with a sheepish smile. "It's a keychain for you to keep with you and remember about the city." And about me, she thought, with love.

"Moira... thank you." He replied touched, as he picked up the keychain with the words Oxford written and hung it in his belt, then holding out his hand to Moira and bringing her to him, embracing he girl.

Kissing the top of her head, he pulled back slightly, lowering his head and raising her face gently with his fingers, kissing her.

The couple sat in the living room, side by side on the couch, finishing filling the last papers for Moira's registration in Bennington. She was supporting the paper she was filling over her notebook, thus allowing her to be sat next to Charles, as the man had a flyer and some papers with the courses they offered in the first year and advised Moira.

Moira was extremely grateful for being there with Charles, not only because he was a wonderful and attentive man and boyfriend, but also because he could advise her about the subjects she wanted to study in September. With her father, it wouldn't work, not only because he was against her choices, but also because he was a banker and didn't understand a lot about science and genetics. Of course, she could have asked for help from her former biology teacher, but it wouldn't have been the same as asking Charles.

Finishing filling the papers and leaving them aside, Moira stretched, seeing that it was still early and then leaned on Charles's shoulder, who was studying the papers with interest, and then, feeling Moira's body lean against his, he smiled, holding up the papers and passing his free hand through her hair, guiding her onto his lap to lie down.

Smiling to see why Charles had been so exciting about the house, she relaxed on his lap, looking up and watching him read, thinking how handsome he looked even when he was concentrated.

"So, Professor Xavier, what do you recommend?" She asked joking and he laughed, keeping his hand on her hair.

"They have lots of interesting subjects. I've marked some of them that I thought were important, but the decision is yours." He told her, then after reading the list and talking a bit, Moira decide to reflect at home, and the girl felt the desire from last night appear, with his breath on her face and one of his legs, moving beneath her and, feeling brave, she murmured:

"Charles, I want you to touch me like that again... As in our minds."

She lifts her arms, holding Charles by his nape, and he was surprised by the request, then being pulled toward her by his nape and she kissed him hard.

Charles, reacting to her body, readjusted them on the couch, getting on top, without crushing Moira, in the same position as the image he had created in their minds last night. Moira's hands stroked his hair and ear, eliciting a sigh from the man, then falling to his shoulders, massaging them.

With a knee pressed between her legs, but without touching her there, it was still early, Charles put a hand under her head, the other on her waist as he deepened the kiss.

The air was getting heavy and warm due the sensations caused by their touches, but none of them cared, wanting to take advantage of that time they had alone to be together. Moira cocked her head to the side when Charles dropped his lips to her neck, distributing kisses and bites there, but being careful not to leave a mark and the girl, feeling the goose bumps, bent one knee while moving herself beneath Charles.

With Moira's head still turned to the side over his hand, Charles stroked her lips with the thumb from his hand, parting them for a moment and averting his own lips from her neck to look at her. Seeing her face flushed and the chocolates eyes slightly wide, but glowing with desire, and lips parted around his finger, Charles felt some of his control start to escape, but for Moira, he managed to have his control back, deciding to move forward just a little bit, both to prepare her, as to make her feel loved and also to try to satisfy his desire for her, something he knew that was impossible, she was addicting.

Moira, feeling his finger leaving her lips, clenched her fingers around Charles's hair as his hand began to descend from her face to her neck, chest and gently rubbing over her right breast. Moira gasped and Charles let his hand rest over it, apprehensive and trying to read her mind to know whether she was enjoying it or not, but feeling her other leg bending beneath him and her fingers in his hair massaging his scalp, he knew he it was alright for her snd started caressing her breast, feeling its weight snd texture.

The feel of his hand stroking her breast was magical, it was hot, different from what she had felt when Joe had tried to touch her several times, only to have his hand slapped, to his irritation.

Charles felt certain parts of his body stiffen, feeling his hand around her breast and, seeing her smile, Charles smiled too, saying:

"I love you."

"I love you too."

And he kissed her passionately, as his hand began to massage her. Taking control of the kiss, Moira's hands lowered from his back, getting inside the shirt Charles was wearing, feeling his warm skin and muscles moving under her hands as Charles moved over her, kissing her and Charles growled, feeling her nails scratching his back lightly.

"So good..." She sighed between kisses and he whispered words of love, recapturing her lips.

When the couple broke the kiss, trying to catch their breaths, they smiled, while Charles straightened on the couch, lying next to Moira, who laid her head for a moment on his shoulder lazily, one leg tangled with his and the telepath kissed her hair, allowing the hand that was around her waist rest underneath the blouse she wore, caressing her bare and crawled skin.

They didn't know for how long they had stayed in the couch, but when Moira opened her eyes and saw that it was getting dark inside of the house, she realized it should be almost 6pm. Looking to the side, she saw Charles's face buried in her hair, asleep and she smiled, combing his hair and making him raise his head, sleepily.

"Moira?"

"It's getting dark, Charles, soon we'll have to leave for the dinner. And the boys must be almost here." But it didn't seem to awake him fully and so the girl smirked: "And we'll end up being caught by your sister on the couch."

"Argh..." The man sat on a leap remembering about his sister, trying to erase from his mind the image of being caught with his girlfriend on the couch, by his younger sister.

Laughing as she saw him sitting on the couch and combing his hair with his hand, Moira placed a kiss on his cheek, when the front door opened, and before Charles could have felt her mind, being distracted, Raven, holding hands with Hank and being followed by Sean and Alex entered in the house.

Raven was laughing while Sean was imitating with his hands the scene with the gun they had watched and Hank was watching Raven's beautiful smile, then looking down, seeing their hands together, gesture started by him when they'd left the jeep, and he had made the blonde blush slightly and smile.

"Did you have fun?" Hank asked as he reached for her, leaving the jeep.

Raven enchanted him, not only for her beautiful smile and cool way, but by the way she accepted her mutation, although she couldn't walk around in her true form.

She had revealed herself to him inside the cinema, her true face, with red hair and blue skin and, although it was shocking at first, Hank had been dumbfounded, he found her fascinating and admired her for being so strong and not caring what others thought about her.

But the moment had been interrupted inside the cinema when Sean had slammed his fist on the seat beside them in his favorite scene.

"How I haven't in months." She reassured him, accepting his hand and pulling him forward with her.

Hank, being a little shy, but also struggling and suffering for having to hide his mutation, seemed to be someone she had been looking for a long time but not realizing, being gentle, fun and smart and she wanted to talk to her brother to know if that was how he felt with Moira.

"I really enjoyed hanging out with you Hank." She admitted, kissing his cheek and leading him ahead of Alex and Sean, who widened their eyes, surprised by the kiss before smirking, ready to annoy their friend that night. It was good to see him have fun.

Raven, then seeing the scene in the living room, stopped at the door, making the other two bump into her back:

"Charles, you have a room on the second floor!"

"Raven!" The man hissed looking at Moira, who was covering her face with her hand and then looked at the boys, whom saw him as a mentor and the boys didn't know where to look, amazed, embarrassed and happy for they two, but also trying not to laugh.