i knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs
Charles had met Erik 6 years ago at a shared friend's wedding. They had bumped into each other, and for lack of anything else to do, fell into conversation. It didn't take very long for them to realise they enjoyed each other's company.
From that moment onwards they were inseparable, meeting every day either at a coffee shop, a bar or just lounging in their living room watching silly romcoms.
It also didn't take very long for Charles to realise that he had fallen head first into the steel eyes of Erik Lensherr.
It was 4 years later, when his sister, Raven, had returned from her course in Paris. Charles and her had met up, after being physically separated for so long. It didn't take him long to bring Erik to meet his beloved sister.
''Raven, this is Erik. Remember I told you about meeting him at Emma's wedding a couple years ago-'', he stopped his rambling and stared at his sister-oh. He knew that look, her face was completely awash in adoration, and she was helpless in the face of Erik Lensherr. He stayed silent as the two of them shook hands, eyes flitting between Erik's polite expression and Raven's besotted one. Charles inhaled sharply, plastering a smile onto his face, he could be wrong (he knew he wasn't), he'd have to wait and see if his suspicions were correct.
To no one's surprise, his original hunch was right on. The three of them met up together often, forming a little trio of misfits. And the look in Raven's eyes never changed, hell, it had grown more in the time they spent together. The nail in the coffin was Raven coming up to him one night, cuddled up against his side as he wrote and softly whispered, ''I think I'm in love with Erik, Charles'', and just like that Charles' world froze.
At that exact moment he knew, he would have to bury his feelings for Erik somewhere even Charles himself wouldn't be able to dig them up. He knew he could never tell Raven either, his sister, his younger sister who was so full of love and kindness. If he ever told her she'd resign herself, pull back, say 'she's fine', and silently suffer. So he smiles and tells her to go for it.
It was 1 year later when he walked Raven down the aisle to stand by the side of her soon-to-be husband. He stood next to Erik as his best man, watched as they exchanged vows, watched as they exchanged, 'i dos', watched as they kissed gently with the crowds roaring applause as background music.
He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but at night, when he was alone, a bottle of brandy on his bedside table, he would stay up romanticising the twinkle in Erik's grey-blue eyes. He knew that he would never find someone whom he loved more, but at the very least, he kept those steel eyes in his life, at least his dear sister was Erik's bride. He could live like that.