Charles's lips were on Erik's in a flash. All of the past forgotten and only the present and future mattered for now. He just needed this…this wonderful glorious brilliant and somehow perfect for him man. Charles's breath hitched when he pressed their hips together and their pace slowed significantly. This caused Charles's eyes to reopen and stare with wonder into Erik's. The way Erik knew what Charles needed, what he was feeling, how to make him most comfortable without rushing anything…it was just other worldly.

Erik brought their lips together again to bite Charles's lip. "You going to leave me hanging then?"

The words were on an endless repeat in Charles's head. I love you I love you, god, Erik I love you. But they didn't make their way to his voice. "M…me too. L-lo…Erik…I need to…"

Erik stepped back and let his arms fall to grab Charles's hands and pulled him to sit on the bed. "I should explain about Loki first."

Charles shook his head. "But my si- and Emma."

Erik brushed his hand through Charles's hair, guilt thick in his eyes. "You need to learn to finish your words when you speak. While you do that, I'll speak first." He paused for a moment and somehow the guilt grew in him. "I'm sure you realized the kind of relationship Loki and I had. I wish I could say it was shallow, but it was…complicated. We cared for each other, but not even close to what we have now. With me and you. It was very pain oriented and once we'd run out of ideas of physical pain, which trust me that took a damn long time, Loki started experimenting with emotional pain. It wasn't a hard thing to come by in me. It happened enough that…wait I know the word that you would get. We talked about it freshman year in Bio. Um… the dog and the bell and the drooling…"

Charles's voice was soft and scared as he listened, not wanting to hear but needing to know. "Pavlov."

Erik's eyes widened as he smiled. "Yes! Pavlov!" He glanced at Charles's eyes and the smile faded. "Well anyway, that's the kind of thing that happened with me and Loki and pain. So when you weren't at the parking lot. And you said your class was with Odin…I jumped to the unreasonable, but somehow accurate, assumption that Loki had found you. I panicked. I could only image the things he would say to you, or worse, what he might do to you. The fear, the guilt, the…the agony, Charles. It was all things he'd put me through before. And when he pulled me in for the kiss…I forgot everything. I was a junior again. A junior who hadn't met you. Everything disappeared because…because… Because that's just the insanity you get when you have a relationship with Loki! I was so sure you'd win over. I didn't think he could make me forget you…"

Erik's voice faded away and Charles thought now that the anger and pain where gone, maybe what was left was…fear. Charles wanted to be spiteful and strong. He'd been wronged. He earned the right to be mad at Erik. But he found himself petting the back of Erik's neck. "Sh. It's fine. I'm not very memorable."

Erik glared at him. "Bullshit." Charles's eyes widened at the implications of what Erik might mean. "You are the most memorable person I've ever met." It was quiet as the teens seemed to reconsider what they were to each other. "Personality aside, how could anyone forget your hair." Erik managed a smirk and ruffled Charles's hair.

Charles frowned and batted his hand away. "It's just a dye. It'll be gone soon enough." Erik laughed and moved to lie down. He patted the small space between himself and the edge for Charles to join him. Charles curled into Erik's side and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "It's strange how much this does for me."

Erik's eyebrow lifted. "Getting off on cuddling?" His hand moved to check if Charles had an erection, but the hand was swatted away with an air of panic that left Charles nearly falling off the bed.

"God, Erik! No! I meant that it calms me down. Just laying with you." They stared at each other, face to face. Comfortable silences reigned over their evening.

Erik draped his arm over Charles. "So…about Emma…"

Charles frowned. "You did that cause of Tony and Steve, didn't you?" Erik nodded without interrupting and Charles sighed. "Should've known."

Erik scoffed. "Clearly you did if you're bringing it up."

Charles opened his mouth to argue, but then stopped, conceding Erik's point. "Well she came over."

"Came over what? Your couch?" Erik's still somehow kept a smirk on his face, though he was nervous that he could possibly be correct.

Charles rolled his eyes. "Honestly. Everything is dirty to you. No, she…was a guest at my house. For about 10 minutes. Maybe less. No okay it was about 15 minutes. Regardless, it didn't last long. We walked inside and she was…choosing…never mind that part isn't important. But she was acting giddy for most of the night and she stopped and explained she was acting because she thought it would make me like her more. She started to describe how she was actually bitter, sarcastic and some other things and well I kissed her to make her stop talking because…" Erik's face was slowly fading from playful into emotionless. Charles tried to hurry up the story. "Because she was describing you. And she said the things as if they were repulsive and in all honesty, I may have just as well been repulsed had it taken place a few months ago. But in her words, all I could see was you… The kiss was…well she tangled her hands in my hair a lot. Good lord the woman likes hair. She managed to pull me into a room and drag my shirt off before I could mumble a no. Nothing happened on my side apart from clumsy tripping and being dragged. She tried to move my hands onto her ass, but I pushed her away." Charles cursed as Erik's eyes grew ever darker. Maybe Charles enjoyed story telling too much, but Erik didn't seem to be fond of the details. Charles mentally slapped himself and tried to be more blunt. "So she left. And I stared at the ceiling for a while. Then before I knew it, I was at your door. I don't even remember putting my shirt on. Hence the hair. I hadn't checked the mirror. Sorry for that."

Erik seemed to cool down at the fact that Charles's pants had never come off. "How did you get to my door? Like you were at the door to my room. Not even the front door."

Charles stared at the door. "I…I'm really not sur-"

"Sorry, sir." A British voice chimed above them. "He seemed earnest."

Erik threw a pillow at the speaker. "Jarvis, don't eaves drop." After another apology, Jarvis fell silent and Erik was still tense with the question he really needed answered. "So…you didn't really try too hard. To get her… I mean. You didn't have to… Did you." Erik wasn't sure he wanted to know. Regardless of his nervous entrance, Charles had dropped his accent the entire time he was with Erik. In fact, Erik couldn't really remember Charles's American accent at the moment. "Your accent…" he said finally.

"Oh!" Charles shook his head and scooted closer to Erik. "No, she doesn't know." Erik mashed his lips onto Charles's. Charles smiled. "It seems to mean as much to you as it does to me. Lucky me, found someone who understands."

Erik's gaze grew very tender, but still serious. "So about what I said earlier…"

Charles pressed his arm under where Erik was laying and hugged him tightly. He brought his mouth to Erik's ear, "I love you, Erik." The words echoed through him, leaving a trail like a burning flame.

It was quiet again for a while after another session of 'snogging' as Charles had called it and Erik snorted in his face. While they were silent, they observed each other and Erik sighed. "You're thinking too much. What is it?"

Charles bit his lip. "I just…I'd really like to stay…but there was something I was going to do and I got…distracted."

Erik sat up and stretched. "I swear to god if you're leaving me for homework I will burn your textbooks."

Charles blinked in horror for a moment, then dismissed the threat as a joke. "No, much more serious than homework. Family stuff." Charles's heart soared at the thought that people would know about him and Raven soon.

Charles meant to leave then, really he did. But the idea that he could kiss Erik again was much more enthralling than driving home. Charles had the misfortune of being a drunk tired person. No, not a tired drunk. He just…when it got to a certain time of night, you'd swear he'd been drinking. After a particularly sloppy kiss, Erik pushed Charles away and wiped the slobber off his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "What the hell was that?"

Charles blinked his drooping eyelids. "Hm? I…your tongue is weird."

Erik coughed. "Okay…who taught you to kiss? Or do you suck everyone's tongue into your mouth and hold it there with your teeth?"

Charles shrugged and leaned into Erik. "Dunno. Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Erik's eyebrows came together as he took a deep breath. "Have you been drinking or something?"

A giggle burst from Charles's lips. "Ohhhh. No. It's a thing with the tired. Certain tiredness..." He never finished his sentence.

Erik looked concerned. "Do you need me to drive you home?"

Charles tried to say no. He really did. But when a wave of tiredness swept over him and he nearly fell over, he didn't make a convincing argument. The thought of his car spending the night at Erik's made him convulse with giggles on the ride home. Erik really had no idea what was wrong with Charles, though he couldn't help but find it endearing.

As they got closer to the house, Charles quickly became 'sober.' Charles twitched in his seat. "Erik, you should just drop me here. I'll walk the rest of the way."

He adjusted the radio quieter now that Charles seemed done babbling and scoffed at him. "We're in the middle of nowhere. I'm not letting you walk for…probably another mile. I mean look over there. We're by some sort of castle. You probably have a long walk ahead of you."

Charles stared at his feet. "…just down the drive way."

Erik stopped the car. "You live in the castle? But…Tony talks about this place all the time. I thought he said it was some historical site or something?" Memories Erik hadn't remembered in years flew back. A book…a picture book from the tourists that took him in. The picture looked just like this. He remembered the man pointing to the picture…but he couldn't remember the story that went with it.

Charles licked his lips. "Yes…well I live in a castle then."

Erik shook off the memories and frowned at Charles. "Sorry. Didn't know you were touchy about your hardship."

Erik hadn't meant to be bitter. He really didn't. Charles's mouth gaped. "Well excuse me. Didn't realize there was such a difference between it and the robot's stomach you live in."

"…robot's stomach?" The bitterness of a foster child came and left in an instant. Something about Charles just…tamed him.

Charles's glare softened, but he tried to keep up appearances. "How else do you describe that house?"

Erik sighed and put the car in park. "Should I come in or…?"

Charles glanced at the house with a calm determination flooding through him. "No. Well…not yet. I just need to…I'll come get you in a few minutes. If…if everything goes alright. If not I guess I'll just text you and. No, I'll come back out. Just give me a few minutes."

Erik nodded but still pulled Charles in for a kiss. The edge of his mouth twitched happily in a smug grin.

Erik watched Charles walk inside, already so much different from when they first met. He walked with a spring in his step now, an air of confidence left in his wake; the walk of a man who could conquer the world, the walk of a hero… again Erik's thoughts led him to want to use Charles as his video game's protagonist.

Erik turned off the engine, adjusted his chair, and began to brainstorm.

-x-

Raven stared out the window and saw the headlights swoop into the driveway. She assumed they were Charles's and didn't think to take a closer look. She heard him quickly greet their father and then the oh-so-stealthy and graceful ascent of the stairs to her room. She waited for the footsteps to reach the door and turned the knob just before Charles was about to knock.

"Jesus CHRIST!" Charles jumped away from the door as his heart started beating even faster than it was with just nerves going through him.

Raven gloated at him and used a baby voice to say "Oh poor baby! Did I scare you?"

Charles stood up straight from where he was hyperventilating. "Fuck you, Raven." They stared at each other in silent companionship and Charles caught his breath. "I need to talk to you." He strolled into her room.

She closed the door behind him. "To what do I owe this gracious honor?"

Charles smirked. "You mean 'to whom' but we'll get to that later."

Raven quickly grabbed his hands and started jumping up and down. "Oh my god, you're going to tell me about the girl. So it isn't Emma? Oh THANK GOD. Tell me tellmetellme."

Charles's smile flickered away for a moment as his resolve faltered. Charles's tongue nervously ran across his lips. He sighed. "Come sit, Raven." They sat on the floor. Raven was silent, knowing how her brother could sometimes take hours to get the words right in his head before he spoke. After longer than Raven could stand, Charles finally began to speak. "It's time for this to stop. You told me yourself that hiding doesn't help you. It seems the façade has been kept up for my benefit alone and is hurting you more than helping. Starting tomorrow, I want everyone to know we're related."

Raven's jaw dropped open and she threw her arms around Charles and tackled him to the floor with a somehow elegant screech of joy. "Oh my god, Charles!" She squeezed him tightly. "Make sure you tell Azazel first, cause he's still convinced we're into each other."

Charles looked at her with disgust. "Seriously? He still thinks that after all these years? We've barely talked in front of him."

She rolled her eyes. "That's the main reason he thinks it's there. He thinks that we're both lost souls drawn to each other and that's why we have strange moments of eye contact."

Charles sighed. "Well I guess he's not too far off. But yeah, I agree. Set him straight first." Raven giggled in a way that made Charles think he was missing something. "Sorry?"

"Oh." Raven shook her head. "No, it's just funny cause Azazel is gay."

The color paled from Charles's face. "Oh…is that…so." His sister was laughing…because Azazel is…

"Charles…what?" Raven stopped laughing when she saw Charles grow serious.

He bit his lip and stared at her. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

Raven blinked. Then they were both still. Then Raven blinked again. "Maybe it's time I-"

"No, Raven. I need to talk first. So if you could just-"

"Charles, I swear it's important if you'd-"

"Please just let me say what I intended to."

"I'm bi." The words came out from the both of them at the same time. They stared at each other for a long moment before Raven started cracking up.

"ARE YOU KIDDING. And I was worried all this time. Wow. So that's what Moira meant…"

Charles's eyes grew wide at the mention of Moira. "What Moira meant? What? What did Moira mean?"

Raven shook her head. "No, I talked to her about telling you. She said she was sure you'd understand. I guess she knew both our hands, huh?"

Raven giggled again. So far…so good. It seemed Charles would be able to introduce Erik. Raven's giggles cut off and her hands fell on Charles's shoulders. "WAIT. You said you were going to tell me about the girl. But now, it doesn't have to be a girl. Oh my god. So much more mysterious. Who is it?"

Charles smiled as fondness warmed his heart. He and Raven had been growing apart and in these few short minutes, they flew back together. Charles stood and beckoned with his head to the window. "Want to meet him?"

Raven took off down the stairs without answering. Charles blinked for a second and then scrambled to follow her. "R-Raven! Raven, jesus! Let me at least introduce you before you smother him!"

When Charles reached the door to the front that Raven had left open, he wasn't sure exactly what he was witnessing.

Erik was standing outside of the car, gaping at Raven and Raven seemed frozen on the steps, staring at Erik.

Charles stepped slowly out of the door and they both seemed to blink. "YOU'RE CHARLES'S SOYSFRIETER?"

It was Charles's turn to blink as they spoke at the same time. "Sorry, one at a time, what?"

Erik was staring at Raven. "You're Charles's sister?"

Raven scoffed. "I could say the same to you. You're Charles's boyfriend?"

Charles's mouth fell open. "Wait, you know each other?"

Raven's hands landed on her hips. She sighed, but there was a certain fondness to it that Charles recognized as friendly bickering. What he didn't expect, was the explanation she gave him.

"Charles, Erik is my ex."