Erik sat in front of Charles. A chess board in between them, the pieces in a draw. ‘Am I wrong for feeling this way?’
‘No, now tell me again what happened.’
-And I tried to hold him-
‘Peter are you ok?’ Erik asked looking at his son who was sitting in his dorm
‘I’m fine.’ Peter said with tears in his eyes
‘Peter.’ Erik tried to hug him but he backed away
-But it didn’t really last long. He’s getting older-
Erik looked at photos from Peters childhood. The childhood he missed. Peter was grown now. He would never be Erik’s little boy. Still he had that red streak in his hair that he had in all the photos.
-I guess he’s got to cut his red hair off-
Peter ran to grab scissors from the lounge.
‘Peter?’ Erik asked as he looked up from his book
‘What?’
‘Why do you need scissors?’
‘God you’re not my dad!’ Peter ran out of the room too fast to catch. Erik dwelled on the last part. Not my dad. Peter saw nothing of him anymore. He remembered Peter loving the fact Erik was staying at the mansion. But now he was nothing to him. Just a face in the crowd.
-And he cried over nothing so there was nothing I could do to stop him from cutting his beautiful red hair off-
He found Peter in the washroom with scissors to his hair.
‘Peter. Please talk to me.’ Erik pleaded with Peter
‘About what? How you weren’t there! How mom taught me how to ride a bike. How SHE took me to my first concert. How SHE taught me to control my powers! I don’t know why I ever idolized you. Watched you on TV thought that if I trained enough you’d love me.’ When Peters voice stoped scissors snapped. ‘Here. For a keep sake.’ Peter threw the hair at Erik while he walked away.
-And I guess I’ll just miss him. Even though he isn’t even really gone things are just different-
Peter barely looked at Erik anymore. He had grown out the hair that once held the red streak. It was now replaced with his signature gray. Erik tried not to dwell on it but he had forever lost his son. And he knew it, everyone did.
Erik was thrown back into reality when Charles spoke
‘You must understand, Erik he has grown up. He understands that his mom raised him, not you. And you can’t change that. Even if you try. You and him are both getting older and neither of you will stop.’
Erik knew he was getting older. Even mutants don’t live forever, we all will die and Erik will die without ever truly knowing his son. Erik held onto the strand of hair in his pocket as he imagined what would’ve happened had he been there for his son.
-Ever since he cut his red hair off-