Author's note: I will post again next weekend. Please send me suggestions and comments.

Chapter 5- Hard decisions

'Lehnsherr?'

'Pratt.'

Charles eyes zoomed between them because only a blind man could not see the tension radiating off the two men.

'Who's this?' the prison officer pointed to the Professor with a thick finger. 'You've never had a visitor in the two years that you have been here.'

Breathe. Breathe. Finesse your way out of this situation Erik commanded himself. There was no need for violence even though for some bizarre reason he felt the need to rearrange Pratt's face.

'Must be my lucky day then,' he replied obscurely.

The ball was back in the Officer's court and anxiously the prisoner waited for the next play. He could see the wheels turning in the man's head obviously wondering who Charles was and assessing his importance.

For a brief second, Erik's eyes flicked to his teacher and he was a bit impressed to observe that the man had returned to his plate and was slowly, if not unnecessarily, slicing his orange chicken into smaller bits. Charles was not as clueless as he sometimes appeared to be. It was exactly what Erik would have done if their positions were reversed.

Good man.

His eyes refocused on Pratt who had opened his mouth to ask another question, when Erik suddenly realized that there was a God as the dinner bell went off and inmates began streaming in from around the prison.

His fellow block mates Matt and Ned with other curious onlookers in tow swarmed around them, wanting to be introduced to the oddly dressed stranger. Before long, Charles was in the middle of an eager knot of prisoners who, fascinated by his pristine English accent and his ability to discuss the latest political situation in the Senate as well as the new X-box games, crowded all the nearby tables.

At this Pratt looked on sourly, but after observing the utter look of boredom on Erik's face and the way he nonchalantly walked away to get his own dinner, the Officer felt more certain. He was still looking at his favourite prisoner's back as he chatted lightly with the cook, when Pratt felt someone watching him.

The stranger's blue eyes were indeed very odd; they were almost electric in their intensity. With a nod of his head to the man, the officer moved on with his rounds.

Charles was glad when he saw his student returning with his own dinner plate. The animosity that the prison officer had projected had been very disturbing, but having Erik close by calmed him and the encounter soon faded from his mind. He turned to listen to another inmate inquire about recent Caucus elections when suddenly, he felt Erik tuck his long legs under their table. The young man almost jumped out of seat as their limbs got tangled together.

This is what happens when you indulge in all these fantasies, Charles berated himself. You can't keep a straight face when he so much as looks in your direction far less for when you accidentally touch!

For a second, the man had let his heart hope but no, obviously Erik had to pull his legs under the small space just to avoid the crowd around their table. As a consequence, the professor had to work hard to keep a neutral face as Erik settled into position, choosing to lightly capture one of Charles' legs between his own as the best way to get them all to fit.

The older man didn't join any of the talk, but the warmth of his knee just grazing the inside of the Englishman's thigh ensured that he wasn't far from Charles' thoughts. Not that it mattered; it had been that way for the last two weeks. Always Charles could feel his student's presence lapping at the edge of his mind but with this impromptu dinner, Erik was quickly searing himself a place in the middle of his forehead.

Oh god, please help me, Charles thought to himself in panic.

Part of Charles wanted to run from the magnetic pull of this man who was calmly chewing his broccoli, and the other part of him couldn't dream of being anywhere else.

Ah the insanity of lust at first sight!

As the dinner hour came to a close, the professor smilingly shook many different hands as the inmates said their goodbyes and drifted away to their own areas. Soon teacher and student were alone again.

Charles was tired.

He had a hard day of back to back meetings, Erik had taken his emotions on a roller coaster ride and to end it all, he had been tracking and participating in at least five different conversations for the past thirty minutes. After a while he realized that perhaps he was being poor company, but he didn't think he had within him to discuss anything else.

Just thinking those thoughts led him to stifle a huge yawn behind his hand. It was quite pleasant here in this little corner of the prison, with the sun starting to just go down over the mountains. He had just eaten a good meal and was enjoying the warmth and silent companionship of a good pupil, one that he someday hoped to call a good friend. Charles couldn't think of a better way for the day to end. Well he could, but he was NOT letting his mind meander down that forbidden path!

He and his fellow university colleague Hank had discussed the situation at length, and it was decided that the Professor would see Erik through to the exam in the next two weeks. After that, they would arrange to get another teacher to supervise further studies and Xavier would act in an advisory capacity. In any case their prisoner turned scholar seemed to have an absolute flair for numbers and finances, topics that Charles didn't have much expertise with at all.

The professor had agreed in theory with the decision, but inside his heart twisted because it meant that he wouldn't get to see Erik as much as before. However, it just wasn't ethical to put Erik in such a position. Charles had all the power in their relationship and it wasn't Erik's fault that his teacher wanted to 'jump his bones'. Hank had stressed that with this new arrangement, Charles could work on building a friendship with the other man, one in which they could talk, agree or argue, without Lehnsherr feeling that any threat real or imaginary hung over his head.

Charles still hated the idea with a passion! How could any idea where he saw less of Erik EVER be a good idea?

'I have something for you,' the older man announced unexpectedly as he pushed his finished dinner to one side.

Surprised, Charles looked up from where he had been sleepily been staring at the ground. In the silence of the moment, he again wondered at the sheer unlikelihood that he would ever feel such a strong attachment to a man who had a prison address. However, he almost whimpered out loud when Erik untangled their legs to reach across for his bag on a seat opposite. He didn't have to move! He would have gladly reached for the bag himself.

The older man searched in its depths for a moment before pulling out what looked like a homemade CD. With a curious, hesitant smile the professor took the proffered gift.

'Just some stuff I listen to from the library and I thought you might like it too,' the older man offered. 'I know it isn't much.'

Erik had made him something! Cheese on toast! Charles felt his heart melt into a puddle of goo as he read the listing on the jacket, written in the other man's strong handwriting.

'Thank you. This is very nice, but is there some occasion I am not familiar with?' Charles mentally groped for the date in his mind.

Erik gave him an annoyed look of disbelief. 'I just wanted to say thank you for spending so much time on my studies.'

The pleased smile that was plastered on Charles' face vanished and with a snap he closed the plastic jacket of the CD case. For a moment he ogled his student with a look akin to fear and astonishment. Had Erik figured him out? No, impossible. He had been very careful to remain professional at all times.

'Erik, listen to me now. I am your teacher, it is my duty to teach and you as the student need only learn. That is all. I appreciate this gift for the hard work and thought you have bestowed on it and I accept with pleasure, but I want you to look at me and tell me that you know that you need not …offer me presents.'

The older man leaned back in his chair and propped his head up in one hand to stare into the earnest and worried face of his professor. What was this all about? The smaller man had certainly gotten some strange ideas in his head, somewhere within the last five minutes. He never for one moment thought that his teacher was capable of abusing the power of his office over him unlike some of the prison associates, like Pratt. But it was damned decent of the other man to voice these thoughts out loud, so that there would be no confusion. For someone with such a jaded outlook on life, Erik could still acknowledge on some level in his mind, that his teacher was a man of a rare quality. It would appear that the decision Erik had made during the dinner hour, was going to be even harder to carry out.

'You're a good man Charles,' he replied softly. 'Accept it for the gesture of friendship as it was meant.'

Their attention was broken by a loud tone over the PA systems. 'Warning bell,' the older man cautioned hustling to his feet. 'I have to get inside within the next ten minutes.'

Quickly, they started gathering their things. Charles was a little shocked that their time had gone so quickly today but the prisoner was pleased. He didn't know how much longer his strength would hold. Each passing minute, as the professor continued to demonstrate such unselfish kindness eroded at his resolve. In contrast, as Charles hurried to keep pace with Erik's much longer stride he grimaced inwardly, knowing that if Erik knew about all the fantasies he had about him, all the role playing day dreams, he wouldn't say he was a good man. Soon they reached a junction in the path, where one arm would take Charles through administration and out to the parking lot, and the other would carry Erik back to the prison blocks.

'I don't have much time Charles but I wanted to tell you I have made a decision,' Erik interjected seriously, as he swung his black knapsack carelessly on one shoulder. 'I am not going to write the exam. It's too soon, I will never be ready.'

The younger man didn't even blink. He hadn't been a teacher for a very long but he had been a student for most of his life.

'That's just nerves talking,' he assured looking up into the taller man's face. Darkness had swooped down quickly with the evening and all around them the harsh orange outdoor electric lights were flickering to life. 'I will be in the room with you. You are going to be fine.'

Erik looked around them quickly and seeing no-one, he gently grabbed the man's elbow to nudge the professor off the path into a pool of darkness.

'I will take the test when next it comes around,' Erik insisted in a harsh whisper.

'If I didn't think you would be ready, I wouldn't let you do the test in the first place,' Charles volleyed back in a soft voice. 'What has come over you?'

His teacher reached up to tap Erik's hand, which had begun to squeeze his elbow almost painfully. The older man released the appendage.

'Nothing has come over me,' he replied in a careless tone, trying to keep Xavier from the truth. 'You are reading more into my answer than there really is, just like how you did when I gave you the music awhile ago.'

The smaller man's piercing blue eyes stared into his and as Erik tried not to flinch, there was a shrill voice in his head warning him not to underestimate the tenacity of the younger man, who unlike most people in this life, wore his strength so lightly.

Charles took one step closer.

'I have never gotten the impression that you are a person who easily gives up,' the teacher responded slowly as if still turning the matter over in his mind, reaching for the right words to convince his student. 'My sense of you now is that you are afraid of something, which is inexplicable to me as you are one of the most confident people I know. Control your emotions, Erik. This is your future. Show some blasted spine!'

Erik growled low in his throat and instinctively crowded the other man, attempting to make him back down from a surprising display of aggression on his part.

But Charles wasn't having any of it. 'The next exam is six months away. You told me your parole hearing is coming up before that. Don't you want the certificate in your file? Do you LIKE being the only genius level offender inside this minimum security prison?'

For the love of …why was Charles making this so hard?! A part of him knew why and it dawned on him as they stood there in the darkness. Despite the lunacy of the situation, the well respected professor and a prison drifter from no-where were becoming fast friends and this is what friends did, they looked out for one another. But that is exactly why he had to get Charles to stay away. Erik didn't really know how Officer Pratt would react when he found out about Erik's attempts to get approval for early release. The man had never offered him any real violence, just some vague threats. Erik was quite prepared to risk his own safety but not anyone else's and certainly not Charles'.

Erik stepped back on the path and the professor could see the determination etched on his face. 'Good or bad, it is still my decision to make. I will call you when I am ready to start classes again.'