Fake Lovers (1)
Charles woke up early and with a headache. He declined Erik´s offer to have a coffee with him and had the suspicion that Erik was secretly glad about Charles leaving so early with nothing but an Aspirin to fight the hangover. The dorm was still asleep. This or most of the students were at their parent´s houses.
Since the wind had become even colder over night, Charles decided to take a taxi back to his flat. He climbed the stairs to the second floor. When he opened his door he realized it was unlocked. Charles could forget a lot of things when he was busy with his studies but yesterday his head had been free before going to the party. He was therefore sure he had not forgotten to lock his flat. Which must mean....
“Raven?” he asked as he entered the flat. His sister was the only person who he gave a spare key to. “Raven, are you here?”
“No need to be so loud, little brother,” Raven groaned. She was sitting on the couch with a half-empty coffee mug and an assortment of Donuts she had probably ordered at Uber Eats or something. She looked hungover as well, though not as bad as Charles was feeling.
Charles stumbled into the kitchen, made himself some tea, and finally collapsed onto the sofa next to his sister. She did not comment on his state. Unusual, even if she was hungover. Charles had to take several sips of his tea before he realized the tension in the air.
“Why are you even here?” he asked casually. “You have your own place to crash.”
“We drank a lot last night. Your place was closer and since you left with Erik, I figured I could sleep here,” she replied coldly.
Charles sat up straight, suddenly cautious. His sister glared at him. This would usually not scare him as much but this time, he had no idea what she was even angry about.
“Charles, why didn´t you tell me about you and Erik?” she blurted out. “How long have you two been dating?”
Charles´ mouth fell open.
“Dating?” he repeated.
Raven rolled her eyes. “Yes, don´t act so surprised, you two weren´t hiding it very well. I mean, you arrived together at the party last night, when Erik wouldn´t dance with me he told Alex it was because of you and then you two left for the bathroom together, for God´s sake! I´m betting you twenty dollars everyone at the party heard you moan Erik´s name, you weren´t exactly subtle.”
Charles was still at a loss for words. He considered telling his sister that he and Erik arriving at the same time had been a coincidence, that he asked Erik not to flirt with Raven anymore, and that him shouting Erik´s name in the bathroom was because Erik had physically threatened him. But his sister just kept talking without giving Charles an opportunity to intercept.
“And then we heard Erik say how he didn´t want to play friends in front of us anymore! Charles, did you keep this a secret because you feared we would judge you for dating a man? Because none of us does. It doesn´t make a difference for me whether you like men or women.” Raven shook her head. “God, you really should have told me beforehand. I wouldn´t have flirted with Erik if I had known you two were dating.”
This last sentence stopped Charles´ train of thoughts dead in its tracks. Without even knowing it, Raven had handed over the key to keeping her away from his arch-enemy once and for all. He cleared his throat and gave his best impression of being slightly embarrassed.
“I´m sorry, Raven,” he said with his best puppy eyes. “Between Erik and me... this is all very new. I don´t even know if he is out, yet, so I asked him to be fake friends for now. I know you all wouldn´t have a problem with me being bisexual. I´m sorry.”
Raven looked allayed. She gently ruffled Charles´ hair and even handed him a donut.
“I´m happy if you are happy, little brother,” she said which was a blatant lie in Charles´ experience but he didn´t comment on it. Then she winked at him. “I told you, you guys would get along once you stopped your childish feud, remember?”
Charles forced a little smile and nodded. Secretly, he was already planning how he could convince Erik to go along with this charade.
Erik left his Monday-morning classes with the itch to smoke. He had cut back on the bad habit after he got his wisdom teeth removed but by now they had healed so well that the cravings came back with full force. Before he had even made it out of the hallway, a very frantic-looking Charles Xavier appeared next to him. His blue eyes were wide open and his panting spoke of too many parties with too little exercise since the beginning of his semester.
“Erik, we need to talk,” he said without any greetings whatsoever.
“No. I´m going to smoke, then I´m going to class.” The truth was that Erik couldn´t remember everything they had talked about the night after the ruined Thanksgiving party. They had gotten horribly drunk and Charles had acted strangely the next morning. Maybe Erik had said something inappropriate to him. And while Erik usually didn´t mind being inappropriate, for some reason it bothered him that he might have scared Charles off.
“Erik, please.” Charles had grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back.
“What is it?” Erik finally asked – but only because hearing Charles beg was doing all kinds of things to his body.
Charles averted his eyes, not a good sign. Then he bit his lips, another bad sign.
“I... I might have told my sister we two were dating.”
Erik frowned. He wondered if Charles had drunk-called her or something. God, he couldn´t remember what they had talked about after they had finished the whole Magda-and-his-unborn-children story.
“Why?” he finally asked.
Charles immediately blurted out the whole story; how Alex was suspecting them because they went to the bathroom together, how he had kind of accidentally outed himself as bisexual in front of his sister, and how he had tried to explain to her that Erik had talked about pretending to be his friend. When he came to an end, he looked at Erik with his blue, oh so blue eyes and asked: “Would you maybe be willing to be my fake boyfriend?”
“Absolutely not!” Erik was two seconds away from just walking off and leaving Charles alone with his dumb ideas.
“Why not?” the Brit pleaded. “You told me yourself you would date me if I wasn´t so annoying!”
Had he? Erik could not remember but it sounded like something he would say to Charles while drunk. He shrugged it off, acting unfazed.
“Maybe, but you ARE annoying, Xavier.”
“What if I promise not to be annoying?” Apparently, Erik had hesitated a second too long because Charles felt encouraged to add: “I will also pay for dinner.”
Like most students, Erik had to pinch every penny and therefore, free food was an argument that had to be seriously considered. Since he had worked as a carpenter before, he was now living off of his savings. Money he had planned on spending on the twins but he was not going to think about that right now.
“Fine,” he groaned. “I will play your fake boyfriend for a few weeks. But we will not be holding hands!”
Charles beamed at him, making Erik regret his decision instantly. He had to remind himself that Charles was cute and smart, under different circumstances Erik had considered himself lucky to date him. And since Charles had promised to be less annoying... how bad could this be then?
“Thank you, Erik! I promise you will not regret this.”
“I already do,” Erik groaned but Charles just laughed.
Playing Erik´s boyfriend turned out to be harder than expected. Charles had never had a real boyfriend before and even with his past girlfriend´s it had been only puppy love, nothing overly physical.
Charles made an effort to always stand close to Erik, brush his arm or his shoulder sometimes, to listen and to smile at him whenever he talked. If anyone else noticed Erik´s irritation about this behavior, they didn´t comment on it.
During lunch, Charles would sit next to Erik in their usual booth. Sometimes, he would playfully press his leg against Erik, just to provoke him a little. Erik retaliated with playful banter but so far, both of them managed to uphold their part of the agreement.
Their friends weren´t the least bit surprised when Charles told them that he and Erik had started dating recently. Angel even said she saw it coming from a hundred miles away. Charles frowned and silently wondered how often Angel had even seen them together since she rarely attended class. Erik, on the other hand, put on his widest shark-like smile and thanked her. He even put an arm around Charles´ shoulders and pulled him closer.
Charles was especially worried about how to behave during the Chess Club meetings. But it turned out, as long as he didn´t say a word, he and Erik managed to peacefully play game after game. With a slight pang of guilt, Charles thought that Hank had been right; Erik´s quirks were accepted by the other members and it was only Charles´ critique that had brought so much uneasiness to the club.
“I heard you and Erik started dating,” Liam said as they tidied the room afterward.
“Uhm, yeah, it´s all very new, though,” Charles replied carefully since he didn´t know if Erik had mentioned anything.
“I see.” Liam nodded. “Congrats, you two make a great couple if I may say so.” He smiled warmly at Charles who couldn´t help but smile back.
Their conversation was interrupted when Erik left the adjacent room where he had smoked and played like usual. He was wearing a long, black coat and a gray scarf that somehow made his gray eyes look even more piercing.
“Are you ready to leave?” he asked Charles, casually placing a hand on his shoulder.
“One second,” Charles mumbled. His face was flushing as he shoved the chess pieces back into the little drawer underneath the chessboard.
Erik´s hand was still resting on his shoulder when they left. Once they had exited the building, the other man let him go.
“We need a story,” Charles blurted out. “Of how we ended up dating.”
A frown appeared on Erik´s face, Charles was used to that by now.
“Do you remember how the others wanted to kick us out of the Chess Club and you asked me to fake a friendship? We could tell you confessed your undying love to me back then.” He grinned devilishly.
Charles kept his cool only with an effort.
“This was over two months ago, it doesn´t match with what I told my sister. We have only been dating for a short amount of time.”
Erik lit himself a cigarette.
“I asked you out when you came to check in on me after I had my wisdom teeth removed,” he suggested. “The painkillers gave me the courage or something. Maybe I said something stupid. 'I had a crush on you since I first saw you at the Chess Club' or something like that.”
Erik´s tone of voice didn´t change but Charles found himself grinning at the suggestion.
“This will do.” He playfully pressed himself against his smoking fake boyfriend, trying to kiss him on the cheek. Charles had to walk on his tiptoes to even reach his face which made it easy for Erik to ward him off.
“Don´t do that again,” he hissed but his voice was just as playful.
“Whatever you say, darling,” Charles replied with a giggle as Erik pushed him away.
“Don´t you dare call me that!”
Charles laughed as he left, still hearing Erik curse at him behind him.
When Erik had agreed to become Charles´ fake boyfriend he hadn´t expected the other man to be so clingy. During the last few weeks, Charles was up in his space all. The. Time. And Erik hated people being so close.
Charles hugged him in front of the others to greet him. Charles sat next to him whenever possible. Charles pressed his leg against Erik´s during lunch. Charles cuddled against his chest when Erik wasn´t careful. Charles brushed his knees when they played chess.
It was driving Erik insane. At least, Charles held up his part of the agreement. He treated Erik to free food whenever possible and abstained from going on his nerves on purpose. In return, Erik played the good boyfriend. Sometimes he even put an arm around Charles´ shoulders, secretly revering in how small the other man was.
Since Charles had announced them to be boyfriends, Erik even got included in all of the group´s activities. This evening, for example, he found himself in front of the cinema. Due to the bus schedule, he was half an hour early, so he took the time to pick up his ticket. It was December by now and freezing cold at virtually all times.
Erik decided to wait insides. He made his way upstairs, only for his eyes to immediately fall onto one Charles Xavier who was sitting in a booth. Erik sighed. He made his way towards the other man who was currently busy putting ketchup all over his fries.
“You won´t be able to eat any of them without getting your fingers dirty,” he commented as he sat down.
Charles looked up from his food. A smile appeared on his face when he realized who had arrived.
“Then I go and wash them.” He pushed the tray towards Erik. “Do you want some? They are delicious. I heard they fry them in bacon fat to make them extra crispy.”
“I´m Jewish. I don´t eat pork if I can avoid it.” His fingers were aching from the sudden change of temperature. Erik flexed them a few times until they felt less stiff. Only then he noticed Charles was still looking at him. “What?”
“You never told me you are Jewish,” Charles said. It might have sounded offended if he weren´t simultaneously munching on some fries.
“Why would I tell you?” Erik scoffed, not having taken Charles for someone to have an issue with his faith.
“Because you are supposed to be my boyfriend! How can I convince people we are dating if you don´t even tell me the most basic things about you!”
It amused Erik how upset Charles looked over the fact he did not knew Erik was Jewish.
“I have told you now,” he replied with a provocative grin. Charles pouted. Erik secretly found it adorable, like watching a puppy make a fool out of itself but being too proud to admit the mistake. It took all of his self-control to not pet Charles´ head.
“So, you don´t celebrate Christmas, either?”
“Christmas is not exactly a Jewish holiday,” Erik mocked. “I just stay home and order some food since the rest of the world is busy celebrating.”
“I wanted to invite you over to celebrate with Raven and myself.” Charles looked... strangely bothered. “Since you don´t have any family in the States.”
Both of Erik´s eyebrows shot up. “Why would you do that?” he blurted out.
“Because you are – once again – supposed to be my boyfriend.” Charles spoke very slowly as if he was explaining something to a three-year-old. “How would I explain it to my sister if you and I spent the holidays apart?”
“Just tell her we are not yet at a point where we would want to spend the holidays together,” Erik groaned to hide his surprise. The fact that Charles wanted them to spend Christmas, a very important holiday as far as Erik knew, together had caught him off guard. “Won´t you two return to the UK to celebrate with your family?”
The question immediately turned Charles´ mood sour.
“I´m not sure I – or Raven, for that matter – want to see them this year. You see, my mother, my step-father and my step-brother... they aren´t exactly nice people. I don´t think they would tolerate Raven at the dinner table after she moved away thousands of miles. They were glad she was gone.” Charles looked pained as he told Erik about his family. “My mother didn´t even call once since I moved out. If she somehow learned I was dating a man....” He shuddered visibly.
“I see.” Erik wasn´t sure how to deal with this sudden openness. “You haven´t told them you are gay?”
“I´m not gay! I like both men and women,” Charles protested. “But no, I did not tell them and I never plan to do so.”
“What if you ever end up marrying a man?” Erik knew he was pushing his luck here – and Charles´ patience, probably – but this was the first time Charles had ever revealed something so personal to Erik. And after Charles now knew everything about Pietro and Wanda Erik felt like he should know something personal about the other man as well.
“Then I will simply not invite them,” Charles grimaced. “I will simply send them a Christmas card with him kissing me in a compromising pose. If I´m lucky, my step-father will die from a sudden cardiac arrest.”
They both burst into laughter at the thought.
“I just realized I have never asked you if you are even into men,” Charles said after they had calmed down again.
“I am,” Erik huffed. “But women are still my preference.”
The sudden appearance of Hank and Raven made them both jump. Erik had completely forgotten that they were actually waiting for the others to arrive so they could go see a movie.
“What are you two lovebirds talking about?” Raven wanted to know. Her smile was so dirty it even made Erik uncomfortable.
“Nothing, just comparing schedules so we can plan our next date,” Charles replied without hesitation. “Thursday evening at 5 PM seems to work best, right, Darling?”
“Yeah, sure,” Erik heard himself say. Luckily, Alex arrived a few seconds later, so Raven dropped the topic.
Charles waited outside room 217 for Erik to pack up. He casually chatted with Liam who already seemed to be in a festive mood even though Christmas was still two weeks out. At last, Erik left the room so Liam could lock the door.
“Did you wait for me?” Erik asked when he noticed Charles standing in the hallway. “I thought you had left already.”
“It´s our date night, remember?” Charles grinned at Erik´s confused face. “We talked about it last weekend when we were waiting for the others at the cinema.”
“Oh,” Erik said. Even though he didn´t seem to be on board with Charles´ plans he was clever enough not to mention it in front of Liam who still believed they were a couple. He smiled at them before finally leaving in the opposite direction.
“Were you serious?” Erik asked once he was out of sight. “About the date?”
“Sure, why not?” Charles gave Erik his best puppy eyes. The other man just groaned. “Come on, I´ll invite you. You don´t have to talk, either. Let´s just eat some Hamburgers, play chess and enjoy the evening. It´s far too cold to go out, anyway.”
“Fine. Only because there will be free food.”
Charles giggled. “Of course.”
They walked half an hour in the cold wind to the nearest diner. It was half past five, too early for dinner guests and too late for people coming in for an afternoon snack. The only other guest turned out to be an elderly man who was completely focused on his newspaper. They chose a table on the opposite side of the diner.
Charles could feel his cheeks warming up. He had worn both a scarf and a beanie and still it hadn´t been enough to keep his face from freezing. Erik who didn´t even wore a cap or anything looked even more crumpled from the wind.
They ordered two hot beverages to warm themselves up. Erik had chosen the seat opposite of Charles instead of next to him, he only sat next to Charles when they were around others. Now he was studying the menu and Charles was studying him. Erik looked like he had lost weight during the past weeks, his cheekbones were even more pronounced and his large hands appeared bony.
Erik only put the menu away when Charles pulled out the portable chessboard he had brought.
“Have you ever played Fischer Random Chess?” Erik asked.
“No, I don´t think I´ve heard about it,” Charles admitted.
“It´s played like regular chess but the starting positions are randomized following specific rules. It was invented by Bobby Fischer, the greatest chess player of all time, who apparently hated memorizing openings. Do you want to try?”
Charles, naturally savvy when it came to picking up social cues, had the feeling that this question was some kind of truce. Their games of chess had been a way to let out aggression towards each other until now. But this felt like a peace proposal.
“Sure.” He smiled at Erik. The other man grinned like a shark before he started rearranging the pieces into a semi-randomized starting position.
It took Charles a few minutes to get used to the seemingly chaotic game at first. They played in comfortable silence, both sipping from their beverages occasionally. Charles had to admit that Fischer Random Chess was fun, eliminating the boring memorization of openings so that the game turned very dynamic within only a few turns.
“When did you realize you were bisexual?” Erik asked after a few minutes.
Charles looked up in surprise. Was Erik making small talk while playing chess? That had to be a new one. He smiled at him.
“When I was fourteen or fifteen, maybe.” He took Erik´s bishop. The other man seemed awfully unconcerned. Maybe this had been a trap.
“So, basically last year,” Erik mocked with his usual shark-like grin.
“I´m seventeen!” Charles protested once again.
Erik laughed at him. A good-natured laugh, a laugh between friends who casually mock each other. Charles felt his face flush from something that wasn´t embarrassment but something else entirely.
“When did you notice?” he mumbled to lead the attention away from himself.
Erik shrugged. “When I hit puberty, I guess. I feel like I have known forever, so it´s less of a big deal for me than it is for you.” He took another one of Charles´ pieces.
A waitress arrived at their table to take their orders. Charles decided to have pancakes with eggs and bacon, and Erik ordered a chicken burger. Secretly, Charles was glad the diner was so cheap it didn´t have any candles on the table. This was already starting to feel like a real date.
“So, do you want to celebrate Christmas with us?” he asked once again.
“If it´s important to you, I´ll pay you a visit,” Erik groaned. “Comes with the territory of being a fake-boyfriend, I guess.”
His act of pretending to be annoyed was so bad Charles giggled. “You won´t regret it. There´ll be Christmas cookies, pie, potatoes, roastbeef, wine, presents, Christmas music... I even got a Christmas tree. A real one, not one of those plastic trees.”
“As long as I don´t have to clean.” By now, Erik was grinning. Charles had the suspicion it was because Charles was losing horribly. By the time they started their second game of Fischer Random Chess, the waitress brought them their food.
Charles felt lightheaded. Here he was, on a fake date with his fake-boyfriend, eating cheap American food and having a great time. This fake date was better than half of his real dates, Erik and himself both teased each other constantly, only to break out in laughter time and time again.
It turned out Erik had a very dark humor. Charles advised him with tears of laughter in his eyes to always disclaim that he was Jewish before making jokes like that. Erik, on the other hand, looked delighted to be able to make Charles laugh like that.
Two hours flew by. More guests arrived at the diner for dinner and the atmosphere was getting too noisy to continue playing. Charles paid the bill. They wrapped themselves in scarves and coats and left the diner, only to be greeted once again with the icy December wind.
“Where do you live?” Erik asked. “I´ll make sure you get home safely.”
“It´s not that far from here; I would be able to make it there myself,” Charles replied with a giggle.
They walked side by side. Charles realized once again how much taller than himself Erik was, all sharp edges, rough stubble and lean muscle. Even his eyes were piercing. He moved like a predator as well; confident and graceful, like he could never be out of place.
Charles found himself staring at the other man. Snowflakes settled in Erik´s hair and the cold turned his cheeks into a gentle red color. He only realized he had shuffled closer when he accidentally brushed against Erik´s arm.
Suddenly, Charles didn´t want Erik to leave. He wanted to ask Erik to come upstairs, to drink tea and to play chess with him. He wanted to see the glow in Erik´s eyes when he won yet another game. He wanted to listen to Erik ramble about the glory of traditional German literature. He wanted to learn about how Erik saw the world. He wanted, he wanted, he wanted....
He wanted Erik to pull him closer. He wanted Erik to kiss him.
Charles felt his face flush from embarrassment. Here he was, spending a single peaceful afternoon with his arch-nemesis, and now he was already fantasizing about making out with Erik. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.
“It´s right here,” he said, pointing at the house he lived in. “Second story.”
Erik nodded. His eyes wandered over the building once more. The apartment was ideal for Charles´ needs. Positioned in a clean, upper-class neighborhood but still in walking distance to college.
“Thanks for escorting me but I think I will be able to make the last few steps on my own,” he tried to joke. Erik just grinned.
“I´m sure you will.” And then he stepped closer, leaning in ever so slightly. Charles could feel his heart stop in his chest. For a beautiful and at the same time horrible moment, he thought Erik was going to kiss him. He could see the other man tower above him, feel the matter of his body so achingly close.
Charles wondered whether or not he needed to get onto the tip of his toes to reach Erik´s face. He wasn´t even sure if he wanted Erik to kiss him in public, it seemed so unceremonious. He should have chosen a better place to eat, certainly Charles was still smelling faintly of the frying fat like the dinner.
Should he close his eyes or was this going to be more like a peck on the lips? Or was Erik even going for kissing his forehead only?
Erik was close now, almost close enough for a kiss. And then... he stopped. Charles realized Erik´s eyes were focused on something behind him. He furrowed his brows.
“It only says Xavier on the mailbox. I thought you lived with your sister?” Erik asked.
Charles felt his face light up from shame. Erik was not going to kiss him. Of course not. He had never had the intention of kissing Charles, he just wanted to check the names on the mailboxes next to the door.
“No, she has her own place,” Charles heard himself say. He did his best to hide his face behind his scarf, convinced that Erik would notice Charles´ disappointment. “We wouldn´t get along if we lived together, I think.”
“I see.” Erik stepped back again and nodded at Charles. “See you tomorrow, then. Good night. Thanks for the food.”
“Good night,” Charles mumbled. Erik had already turned around before he had been able to collect his thoughts. He stood in front of his own door for a minute, watching Erik from afar. The other man crossed the streets, checked his phone and then disappeared in the night.
Charles´ intestines felt tangled. There was no way he was in love with his arch-enemy. Absolutely no way.