Chapter Eleven: Saturday Night In Oxford

If Charles had had plans for tonight, Erik would now never know. It had been surprisingly easy to convince Charles to come with him to the student bar, which left Erik to think that perhaps Charles ended up here more often than Alex and Sean seemed to think. They were on their second pints by the time Alex, Sean, Angel and Hank appeared, all dressed as if they were going to be hitting the town hard after the band had finished. Even Hank looked as if he'd received a make over, although they hadn't managed to get rid of that bashful expression he wore. Erik could feel Charles straighten a little at his side, and take a small step away from him. The loss of the warmth against his side, made Erik itch to pull Charles back against him.

"Why hello Professor," Sean said sidling up to him, and leaning on the bar. "Come here often?"

He waggled his eyebrow in a way that made everyone know that he was taking the mick. Charles didn't reply, but looked slightly perturbed to find Sean looking him over, and admiring his skinny grey suit trousers.

"Hey don't scare off our only sexy professor. If I have to look at another balding, grey haired, pot bellied old man, I will scream," Angel said, before wedging herself in between Erik and Charles at the bar, and trying to catch the barman's eye.

"Smile!" Alex yelled, before a flash went off in Charles' eye.

Feeling blinded, and completely crowded, Charles had to shout to make himself heard over their excited chatter. Especially since Sean and Angel were now having a conversation across his chest, whilst pinning him against the bar.

"If I buy you all drinks, will you go and sit down and leave me alone?" Charles asked.

"No promises old man. Depends on how many drinks you buy," Alex assured him. "And throw in a few shots while you're at it, OK?"

Charles didn't reply, which seemed to signal that he was prepared to buy them anything they wanted, just to find some peace.

"I'll help him carry," Erik said, and the students filed away into the crowd and towards the back of the room, to where there were still some tables free.

"Did you know they were going to be here?" Charles asked, watching Erik closely.

"It's a student bar Charles, of course there are going to be students in it."

Charles continued to stare at him disapprovingly.

"Alright, so they said there was a band playing tonight. It was the deal, they would convince Hank to take a night off and I'd have to bring you in return. Don't worry, I won't show you up."

"Why would they want me to come here?" Charles asked. He was pretty sure times hadn't changed that much from when he'd been a student here, and the idea of socialising with his professors hadn't exactly been at the forefront of his mind.

"I don't know. Oh here's a crazy idea, maybe they like you?" Erik replied sarcastically.

Charles didn't seem convinced.

"I've been in two of your lectures now Charles, and you've almost had me signing up to be your student. The way you teach is fantastic. Those kids really respond to you. If they didn't like you, they wouldn't all be hanging off your every word, and they wouldn't be caught dead speaking to you after class."

"Really? You think I'm a good teacher?" Charles asked, his face suddenly lit up. Erik shook his head incredulously.

"No I don't think you're good. I think you are bloody brilliant. And I think you're a bloody idiot for not realising that on your own."

Charles blushed, and then ordered his drinks to avoid his embarrassment. He looked nervous suddenly, and Erik realised that Charles was eager to not destroy the strange friendships he had formed with his students. Maybe he'd never had much praise in his life, which seemed incredible to Erik.

"Come on, go and make their night and talk to them. Especially Hank, that poor kid worships the ground you walk on," Erik said picking up the tray of multicoloured, sickly looking shots.

"This really isn't professional Erik," Charles said, looking down at all the drinks and adding a couple of bottles to Erik's tray.

"It's a few drinks. What's the harm?"

Only the students proved more exuberant drinkers than Erik had imagined, and happily knocked back all the shots Charles had been convinced to buy for them. If a drink appeared on the table, it didn't stay there for long. After a while, Erik realised that both he and Charles were well on their way to getting very drunk, and gave up hoping that this night would turn out to be anything like a date. But the students had been surprisingly fun company, and it seemed they were showing no signs of quitting and turning in. Even Hank looked like he was enjoying himself, especially since Angel kept draping her arm around him, and on his other side, Charles was still attempting to talk shop. Even if they were both slurring their words a bit, and forgetting what they were talking about, Charles and Hank determinedly discussed science. Whilst the others scouted the room for good looking girls, and thought it was a fantastic idea to all take Erik's phone number.

"So," Angel said as she placed her empty glass on the table. "How did you meet Professor Xavier?"

Erik found he had everyone's avid attention now; even Hank and Charles had stopped talking long enough to listen to his answer. He could see in the corner of his eye that Charles was smirking, obviously too far-gone to be worried about what Erik might now say.

"We live together in London," Erik replied. This was a bit too long a story for drunken people to comprehend.

"Live together? So you are together!" Angel said looking excited.

"No, Charles rents a room in my flat," Erik clarified, as if this point was very important.

"But, you guys should totally get together. You're good fun," Sean said eagerly, as if his opinion on the matter would make it happen.

"And Professor Xavier is sexy," Angel added, making Alex laugh.

"Angel fancies the professor!" Sean mocked in a sing-song voice.

"Shut up Sean," she snapped, her face slightly flushed. "Don't be so stupid."

"Aw, I'm not denying it, Professor X is fit!" Sean added excitedly, he nodded slowly at Charles, before he and Alex started laughing.

"Right, that's it, see you when you've changed the subject," Charles said standing very carefully, feeling the alcohol rushing around his blood. He considered having a coke next round, rather than a beer. A flat round was what he needed if he wanted to avoid ending up flat on his face in the student bar, before staggering back through the campus.

As he walked away from the table, he heard Alex asking Erik what he did for a living and knew they were about to start another lengthy, rambling conversation. As he crossed the room, and dodged the people dancing to the band, Charles felt someone behind him, and turned to see Hank following him.

"Going to the bar again?" Charles asked as he let Hank catch him up. Hank looked pink in the face, but for once he didn't seem as nervous as he usually did. The alcohol had given him the confidence that he lacked during the day.

"No, I just… I just wanted to say thanks," Hank said, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I wouldn't have made it so far this year without you. I even might have quit, it was never challenging before. Professors never trusted me in the labs…"

Maybe it was the alcohol, but Charles felt himself becoming quite emotional over Hank's confession. But rather than make a fool of himself, he slapped Hank fondly on the arm, and nodded.

I've never had friends before. Hank's thoughts filled Charles for a moment, leaving Charles at a loss for words. He didn't want to acknowledge that he'd heard anything he shouldn't have, but that admission was far too sad.

Hank looked down at Charles with such admiration, that Charles was suddenly worried something inappropriate was about to happen. Stepping back, Charles redirected Hank back to the table, before continuing to the gents. He felt completely overwhelmed by the weird evening, and a moment of escape was needed. Especially since his powers were now ghosting over the surface of his brain, and he'd already unconsciously heard Hank's thoughts. He needed to get a grip, he didn't want to lose control here.

By the time he came back, a pint of coke in his hand, and more peanuts than it was healthy for a human to consume, Charles found that the students were highly excited over something.

"Oh my God!" Angel screamed. "Erik owns Hellfire. Hell-Fire! You've been there?" she asked Charles, her extreme reaction made Charles raise an eyebrow. "What was it like, is it awesome?"

"It's pretty amazing," Charles answered, which was obviously the answer Angel wanted to hear, because she continued gushing about how lucky he was to have been there.

Charles opened his snacks, and threw the other packets across to the boys. He jumped as he felt Erik's hand find his thigh under the table. Erik's touch slid up from his knee, all the way up, until his fingers gently brushed along the zip on Charles trousers, making him gasp. Charles crossed his legs to stop Erik going any further, and looked down at the table to prevent anyone seeing the blush across his cheeks.

"You're all welcome, anytime," Erik offered. "Me and Charles will take you out one weekend, wont we Charles?"

Charles looked at him as if he was crazy. Had Erik forgotten about Shaw? Then he suddenly remembered another conversation that they had yet to have, and wondered how he had managed to let it slide for so long? What had Shaw done to Erik on Monday morning? Had he said something? It didn't appear as though he'd given Erik a black eye, so he must have believed the story Charles had planted in his head.

"Erik, what about…?" Charles asked, his heart suddenly racing.

"Don't worry about him. He believed your story about getting completely wasted. Except he saw the CCTV tapes, and like I thought, there we were strolling on out of the building together."

"Did he…?"

"I just told him I'd stuck you in a taxi, and sent you home."

"You didn't mention that you took Charles home and screwed his brains out then?" Angel added with a grin. "Good call Erik, nice one." She gave him the wink and the gun, before grabbing a handful of Sean's peanuts, much to his disgust.

"You told them about Shaw!" Charles exclaimed outraged.

"Ah ha, so the mysterious 'he' has a name!" Angel said, knowing she was hearing far more than she should be.

"Is this your ex, Professor?" Alex asked, he could see from the look on Charles' face that this was a topic Charles didn't want to discuss. Digging for gossip was always fun, and it seemed like Professor X was a goldmine.

Charles scowled.

"You are so easy to read, honestly, you should try lying better," Sean suggested, desperately trying to hold back his amusement.

"So, Shaw is…" Hank asked rather more innocently than anyone else had been speaking just now.

"My business partner," Erik supplied, it was the answer than was less likely to cause controversy. Only the students had already put two and two together.

"And…" Angel prompted.

"Charles' ex," Erik added after a pause. There was no avoiding it, they'd already guessed correctly anyway, when Charles had given himself away.

"And I'm guessing he doesn't know you two are together?" Angel surmised.

"We are not together," Charles clarified, looking at Erik as if he was trying to say he'd be lucky if they even still speaking tomorrow, let alone being romantic.

"Not yet, OK OK, we get it. Wow, professor, you're not as boring as you look, are you?" Alex commented looking impressed. "And you repeatedly party every weekend in London? At the coolest clubs? No wonder you always look like you're hanging on Monday mornings. You are by far, the most unlikely Oxford Professor ever! How did you ever get hired?"

"I'm likely to be the worlds most fired Oxford Professor tomorrow if you tell anyone about this," Charles warned seriously. He sincerely hoped no one else was overhearing their conversation, he could just image what his mother would say if he told her he'd been kicked out of Oxford for partying too hard.

"We're not going to tell anyone. Who would believe us anyway? You're secret is safe with us. All we ask is you take us all to Hellfire next weekend," Sean said with a grin. "Come on, we know you love us, and cant wait to spend more time with us."

Angel, Sean and Alex smiled at him eagerly, eyes wide and begging. Whilst Hank looked as if he was wondering what had happened to his life, to find him here, drunk and being invited to parties. Not only that but he was being invited to a party with his professor.

"What do you say Charles?" Erik asked with a grin, trying to ignore Charles' stricken expression. "You have to face Shaw at some point, and what's better? Seeing him alone, or having a whole gang at your back?"

"Yeah, we'll kick his ass!" Alex promised eagerly. "Besides we need you in one piece, we have to pass this year. My parents will kill me if I fail, being here costs a total fortune, my student debt will take an eternity to pay off."

Charles shook his head disbelievingly. Why was his life such a mess? Now he was taking on even more trouble.

"I don't want them involved with Shaw. I can handle him on my own," Charles warned Erik. The last thing he wanted was Shaw having more ways to hurt him, or try to control him. It was inevitable that one day Shaw would find out more about Charles' life, but he didn't want his students in the firing line.

"Oh right, you've been doing a bang-up job on your own," Erik said rolling his eyes.

"Fine," Charles conceded, knowing that he would never win. He couldn't ban the students from London, and couldn't stop Erik from inviting them to his club. "But I'll only agree if I get your final drafts before Friday, so I know I'm not making you fail," Charles added, knowing that they were unlikely to refuse.

The students looked at one another, seeing their own excitement reflected on each other's faces.

"I think Sir, that you have a deal!" Alex assured him, holding his hand out for Charles to shake. "It's a pleasure doing business with you."

"Now, let's blow this joint!" Angel shouted, dragging the boy's to their feet, and holding on to Hank's arm, making him blush profusely. Erik was reminded of the first time he'd seen her, and she'd been holding on to Alex just the same. He came to the conclusion that she was just one of those naturally flirtatious people, who liked being tactile. Since Alex didn't seem annoyed that she'd turned her attention away from him.

They headed out into the town with reckless abandonment. Falling into bars, no clue where they were, being thrown out of many establishments for being too loud and finally ending up in a club.

By the time three in the morning rolled around, Charles was dead on his feet. Hank was covered in Angel's kisses, lipstick marks all over his face, and his clothes rumpled. Alex was trying to convince a blonde girl to come back to the halls with him, and Sean was busy throwing up in the nearest alleyway. The only man still standing was Erik, and he wasn't overly sure how that had happened, surely his liver must have been pickled by now? Maybe he'd grown immune?

Eventually as the minutes ticked by and the cold bit through their drunken stupors, they all sat down on the curb, in a defeated line. Too tired even to find post party fried food, and waited for the taxi.

"That was by far, the weirdest night … ever," Hank said after a while. No one contradicted him, except for Erik.

"Wait until you come to London."