They told me you could control metal.
My mom once knew a guy who could do that.
I'm your- I'm here for my family too.
He would hate you if you told him.
Peter is laying with his back on the grass, staring at the sky. A few grey clouds tell it's going to rain soon. Once in a while he stares at the balcony, where Charles and Erik are playing a game of chess. He comes there every day. Just to watch Erik. His father.
"You should come inside." A voice behind him says.
Raven.
"I'm good, thanks." Peter mumbles, knowing she probably didn't hear him.
"It wasn't a question, ya know." Raven says as she sits next to him. "I can see why you're always here, the grass here is soft."
Peter smiles slightly at her.
After a minute of silence she looks at him. "You should tell him."
Play dumb.
"What are you talking about?"
Raven sighs. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb with me."
Plan B?
"I'm planning on telling him, I just haven't found the right time to do it." The younger boy answers.
"Well, you better hurry up finding the right time." She says, after a small chuckle.
"Why do you even care?" Peter suddenly snaps.
"Peter, you have to do something. You have to tell him, because it's tearing you apart from the inside!"
"What do you want me to say? 'Hey, Erik! Do you know Magda Maximoff? Well, she's my mom en you're my dad!'" Peter says, his voice full of sarcasm.
Silence
"What if he hates me?" The boy shyly asks.
"Peter, I have known Erik for a long time now. And I'm sure he won't hate you. After losing his whole family he would find out he still has someone left! He still has a son!"
Peter hesitates for a second.
"Fine, I'll tell him soon."
Peter looks back at the balcony, only to realize that Charles and Erik are already gone.
A while later Peter finds himself in the library, looking for a few books, when he hears voices from a table nearby.
"I thought you said playing chess would be fun." A bored voice says. Peter recognizes the voice as Scott's.
"It ís fun. You just don't like it because you're losing." Another voice says. Is that Erik?
Peter follows the sound, the books he found underneath his arm.
He sees Scott and Erik playing a game of chess. Scott looks bored and annoyed, while Erik looks satisfied.
"If you move your knight he has the chance to claim your queen." The silver haired boy says from behind Scott. "But if you use your bishop you can collect his rook."
Scott looks slightly surprised, but then he smiles as he uses Peter's advice to take Erik's rook.
"Mind if I join?" Peter politely asks.
After recieving two nods he grabs a chair and puts it at the table.
Scott and Erik keep playing for a while, Peter helping them occasionally.
Eventually Erik wins. "Checkmate." He proudly says.
"But it just started to get fun!" Scott sarcastically whines as he stands up.
Erik sighs playful.
"You seem to like playing chess." Erik then says, looking at Peter.
"I don't play it often, but it's fun to do it once in a while." The boy shrugs.
"If you want to we could play tomorrow." Erik says after a moment of thinking.
"Really?" Peter asks, but it comes out more enthusiastic than he meant to. "I mean... Sure, that would be... cool." Now he sounds cooler.
Erik chuckles. "I'll see you tomorrow then."
"See ya tomorrow!" Peter smiles in respons as he grabs his books and uses his speed to go to his room.
The next morning Peter lays in the grass again. His walkman playing soft music as he reads one of the books he got from the library yesterday. Peter silently sings along the lyrics of the song.
"Good morning, Peter." Someone says, but it's not Raven this time. It's Erik.
Peter looks to his side. "Good morning, Erik." Peter hums back.
"I believe I still owe you a game of chess. Are you up for it?" Erik says with a sly grin.
"Sure!" Peter happily says, while getting up. He puts his book and walkman in his backpack and they start walking through the garden, towards the library.
'This is the right moment. You can tell him. It's just you and him.' Peter thinks.
"Can I ask you a question?" He carefully asks.
"Of course you can." Erik responds.
"So, I kinda wanted to ask you this when Scott left, after your game of chess, but I also... kinda... forgot."
"Okay." Erik nods.
"But I should probably, like, warn you, because it can be a weird question." Peter continues rambling.
"That's fine." Erik says.
"But like, really weird. And, and if you don't want to you don't have to answer. Just so you know that there's no pressure." Peter continues rambling.
"What's the question, Peter?" Erik asks, getting impatient.
"I know this is going to be very sudden, but please don't freak out. 'Cause if you freak out I freak out and I'm already freaking out!" The boy nervously continues rambling.
"Peter!"
Directly after Erik says Peter's name a little bit threatening Peter finally snaps. "So what's the deal with you and my mom?"
Erik stops walking.
"I'm sorry?" He says a bit confused.
"Let's make this a bit easier. Do you know a woman named Magda Maximoff?"
Peter starts feeling more nervous than he has ever been before.
Erik turns pale.
"Yes." He says after a few seconds of hesitation. "I remember her from a long time ago."
"From seventeen years ago I assume?"
Erik looks surprised but then nods. "Something like that..."
Peter opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out so he just stares at the floor.
"Peter, is there anything you need to tell me?" Erik questions getting suspicious.
"Magda Maximoff is my mother..." Peter throws out.
Erik looks confused for a while, but then his eyes turn big as he starts to understand what the speedster is trying to tell him.
"And unless she has been lying to me, which I highly doubt, you are... my father."
There it is.
He said it.
Now Erik is going to hate him.
Erik doesn't say anything.
Peter closes his eyes, wishing he didn't tell him.
Why did you tell him?
The younger boy sighs.
"I-I'm so sorry. This was a mistake. I shouldn't have told you." He rambles.
Peter nervously looks around as he smiles awkwardly.
"You know what, I should probably stop talking... Yeah I should leave. I-I'm just gonna go now."
Peter wants to run away, his eyes almost tearing up, but he feels something grab his wrist. Or someone...
Peter turns his head around, only to see Erik with tears in his eyes. And before the boy even knows what's going on he is pulled into a hug.
Peter can't stop himself from crying now. A few tears start rolling on his cheeks. His hands, still hanging loosely, now find their way to Erik's back and the speedster starts hugging the older man back. His father.
"Thank you." Erik whispers.
"For what?" Peter responds, his voice muffled by Erik's shoulder.
"For telling me I have a son, I have a family."
Peter pulls away from the hug.
"So, you're not mad at me?" He shyly asks.
"Why would I be mad at you?"
Peter shrugs. "For not... telling you sooner? Or maybe you're not happy, because it's me?"
Erik sighs. "I couldn't be happier."
Peter smiles, after which he wipes a few tears away and he hugs his dad again.
"Thanks... dad..." He mumbles. A small chuckle follows. "It's feels funny to say that."
But Peter thinks it feels good.
It feels good to know he finally has a real dad.