Chapter 16- Friends and or lovers part5

'He is NOT my friend!' Erik screamed out, dragging his arm away fully intending to push away from the table and make his escape, when the professor unexpectedly lunged across the small space trapping his retreating left hand underneath both of his.

'NO Erik! No! Do not shut me out again.'

Erik stared away in the opposite direction struggling not to lash out verbally or physically at the other man. His forehead popped out in a cold sweat as faint tremors began to run along his neck and arms so great was the effort that it took to keep his dark emotions from swamping his mind. He wished with every fiber of his being that he was somewhere else, somewhere private so he could marinate in his pain and his memories. He didn't want anyone to see him like this! Experimentally he flexed his forearm trying to test the strength of the smaller man's hold. Charles' grip wasn't strong but Erik was terrified to try and break free. He would never forgive himself if he injured the professor.

'Logan told me that you received a postcard today from your friend Matt. That was very nice of him to send you a card, wasn't it?' the younger man quickly rattled off. 'What did he say? Is he well? He seems to think the world of you!'

'Charles, please let go of my hand.'

He felt rather than saw the smaller man shake his head in refusal.

The older man turned around then to face his dining companion and the professor fought the urge to recoil. Erik's eyes had shifted to an impossibly dark shade of grey. There was not one trace of awareness in their depths.

'If I let you go, you will leave me,' Charles breathed out unsteadily, starting to feel the strain of his inferior strength when matched with the man at his side.

The corners of Erik's lips tilted upwards in a strange, sinister smile, 'And you'll never know unless you let go.'

His shock when the Englishman casually released his arm was so great that it cooled his fury and shriveled it into nothingness. He looked across into Charles' face but saw nothing but quiet resignation and acceptance. 'Quite right my friend, I'll just wait here for you.'

'You will?' Erik repeated stupidly.

With the meal forgotten, the professor folded his cloth napkin and laid it to one side. 'I will.'

Erik had his wheel chair half turned towards the doorway but made no further attempt to leave, 'You mean here? You are going to just sit here and wait for me?' The young man smiled engagingly, even as the older man continued in his campaign to glare the soul out of his body.

'I always let my students come to me, Erik. My door is open when you are ready to talk about this Shaw character.'

Vividly, he remembered that Charles had done this to him before; on the day they had first met in fact. The younger man had tapped into some inner well of strength and released his fear, as if he had already looked into the future and knew that everything was going to turn out all right in the end. The result was like a warm blanket thrown around Erik's shoulder; soothing and quieting the beasts that lived within his heart.

'Only my mother has ever been able to do that for me,' Erik surprisingly confessed. 'Switch off the anger, the way you do.'

The smaller man nearly fell out in his chair in astonishment. It wasn't every day that the older man discussed his personal matters. 'Perhaps….perhaps I can meet her some day. I would like that very much.'

Erik shook his head despondently, 'She past.'

'Oh,' Charles whispered sadly, reaching out one hand but drawing back at the last minute. 'I am so sorry that you lost her. Were you close?''

'To me, she was the most beautiful woman in the world,' the older man revealed with a brightening smile. Usually the older man could only see her through a lens of pain and heartache but today, he only felt the sweetness of remembering, sitting in the cold brilliant sunlight, looking into a friend's compassionate and interested face.

She always told him that he didn't need a lot of friends; he just needed the one. She would have loved Charles.

'Do you have any other family?' the Englishman asked cautiously, stepping carefully as if to avoid trigging another episode of yelling.

It pained Erik deeply to see the smaller man look at him so warily. It always did. Giving himself a mental smack on the head for his uncouth behaviour, he tucked his wheel chair neatly under the table and picked up his discarded fork.

'Not if you don't count Matt who is twelve years my junior and treats me like an idiot kid brother,' the taller man deadpanned in a flat voice.

As he had intended, Charles snorted with laughter. 'As young as he is, it is not inconceivable that he IS someone's older brother.'

And of course, being the unsociable troll that he was, Erik had never bothered to enquire. With a wordless gesture he invited Charles to resume eating.

'He appears to be quite an amiable and pleasant sort and the fact that he knows left to your own devices translates to you being up to your eyebrows in mischief, tells me he has a good head on his shoulders,' the professor remarked with a innocent twinkle. 'What exactly is his crime again? I can't remember you saying.'

Erik scooped up some of his pasta with his fork, pointedly ignoring the professor's facetious comment at his expense. The way the Englishman sometimes teased him was quite peculiar. It was one thing for Charles to accidentally say something to trigger his anger but to deliberately toy with his temper? The older man found that he was at quite a loss as to how to respond to such provocative remarks. 'He sold pirated DVDs.'

'People get arrested for that?' the smaller man asked incredulously.

The other man shrugged, 'I guess the judge wanted to make an example of him. Short sentence, he'll be out before my parole is done.'

Charles scraped away at his plate with renewed appetite, 'Remind me when it is time. We should go and meet him at the prisons. He may need a place to stay.'

Erik looked up abruptly.

He had been SO wrong. The professor still had the power to surprise him.

The older man extended his arm and laid it across the table as before; a gesture which temporarily went unnoticed as Charles was busy rebuilding a salad in his plate.

'Why would you do that?' Erik asked in deep puzzlement.

'Well, if I don't pull out the tomatoes now, the bread gets all soggy,' the professor explained pointing out the offending vegetable with his fork.

A sharp rap on the table with the back of his hand was enough to get Charles' attention and he quickly realized his error.

'Any friend of yours is welcome here,' he offered simply, as if it was the most natural conclusion in the world to make.

The taller man looked positively flabbergasted by his reply. Had he said something wrong? The house was as much his as it was now Erik's. Of course Matt was welcome!

Once again Erik rapped his fingers on the table and this time Charles' eyed the outstretched hand unsurely. Hadn't the older man just broadly hinted that being more than friends was completely out of the question? Tentatively he reached across and rested his smaller hand on Erik's open palm. The older man made no move to hold him but the professor could sense a shift in his mood. He wanted Charles to be a little closer to him; just for awhile at least.

'Thank you,' the ex-prisoner mumbled quietly.

Why was Erik thanking him? Had he missed a piece of the conversation trying to get his salad just right?

In return, Charles gravely tapped his index finger on the side of his nose, 'But not Shaw. He is not a friend and therefore he is most definitely NOT welcome.'

For years Max Eisenhardt, now Erik Lehnsherr had moved from place to place, simultaneously executing one financial scheme after the other to fund his hunt for his nemesis Shaw. He had never spoken of his life long personal vendetta with anyone in his life but now, not only did his little friend have Erik's folder in his safe, he had allowed Charles to look at the information within and currently they were lightly bantering about the matter over cold cuts, salads and potatoes. Just knowing that he had the Englishman's ear; of having some partial support in the matter was like a great burden being lifted off his shoulders; a gift of immeasurable value.

How truly strange his life had become!

'No. He is not welcome at all,' Erik confirmed in a low whisper.

TBC

(last part of this lunch tomorrow)

Author's note: My best friend is laughing her head off at my elbow because I couldn't think of more exciting crimes for Erik and company. Grrr…why do I keep her around? Lol.

Anyhow, it's a Fassbender weekend on HBO! Tonight (Sat) he is in Xmen: First class with the lovely James, and tomorrow (Sun) he is starring in Jane Eyre as the mysterious and brooding Mr. Rochester.

Yay! I can't wait.