So, here we are guys - The final chapter. Before I let you devour it though, I just want to say a huge thankyou to everyone who's read, commented and favourited the story. It means more to me than I can say that you all enjoyed it - And, on that cheerful note ... I'll just let you get to it, shall I?

When Erik came to the next morning, he couldn't help but smile fondly as he felt the weight of Charles snuggled into his chest. Even if he was overheating, and even if his arm was numb, Erik couldn't think of a better way to wake up than with a still sleeping Charles in his arms. It was with nigh reverence that Erik's hand began to trail lazily up and down Charles' – still bare – back, and he had to fight against the urge to bury his nose in the messy hair nestled beneath his chin. He managed to resist, but just barely.

Somehow, Erik couldn't believe that this wasn't a dream - It seemed like it should be. Not only had Charles accepted the way that Erik felt about him, last night had happened, and now Charles was half lying on Erik as he slept. Just to be sure, Erik bit into his lip.

"Bloody fuck. Ow," he hissed under his breath. Definitely not a dream. That's good to know.

Soft chuckling drew his attention to the man lying half atop him, and his hand stopped tracing patterns for just a moment before Charles whined, "Don't stop. That feels wonderful."

"I thought you were still asleep," Erik remarked, resuming his pattern tracing.

"I was," Charles murmured, burying his head further into Erik's chest, "Until someone attempted to chew his own lip off."

Erik chose not to dignify that with a response, quite content to lie in bed with one hand memorising the contours of Charles' back, listening to the sound of his only-partially awake breathing. Or, at least, he was, until human needs called him.

"Do you plan on disappearing if I use the bathroom Charles?" Erik asked, recalling the last time he'd left a sleeping Charles in his bed, he'd come back out of that room to find an empty bed and a hastily scrawled apology.

"Not this time," Charles yawned, nuzzling into the pillow Erik had just vacated.

Erik still did all that he needed to as quick as he was able, and was completely unable to help the smile that stretched his lips as he leant in the doorway of the bathroom, drinking in the sight of Charles still sprawled in his bed, the other's sleepy blue eyes looking over at him fondly. Erik didn't even hesitate to crawl back into the bed as Charles held an inviting hand out to him, sighing softly as he rested his head atop Erik's chest again, and Erik's hand automatically returned to tracing patterns in his back.

"Why did you leave that time?" Erik asked after a few moments of peace, and cocked his eyebrow as he felt Charles tense.

"That was – Er…"

"Charles," Erik warned, his hand stalling in its trailing.

Charles heaved a sigh before saying, "I suppose it doesn't really matter after last night," under his breath, which only served to make Erik's eyebrows rise higher. "I left because I was afraid you'd seen something."

"Like what exactly?" Erik didn't even notice that his fingers had taken to tracing patterns again, and Charles visibly relaxed at the feel of it.

"I didn't have full control that night, and I was worried that I'd projected a certain dream I'd had."

Hesitating just a moment as he thought back to that night, Erik asked, "What kind of dream, Charles?" suspicion tickling the edges of his awareness. Surely not?

The telepath blushed suddenly – Which struck Erik as both supremely odd, and ridiculously endearing, considering what they'd done the night before and the fact that Charles was still lying naked in his arms – but pursed his lips, and shook his head a little. 'I don't really want to say' Charles thought at him, and Erik rolled his eyes.

"After everything that happened last night," he sighed, concentrating on particular moments and purposely allowing Charles to see them too.

Much to Erik's bemusement, Charles buried his head into Erik's chest as he did so, as if hiding his face would stop the images. "Yes, it was something like that," he mumbled, and Erik lay there blinking for just a moment, before he snorted with disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding."

Completely misunderstanding, Charles perched himself up on his elbows and fixed Erik was a mildly affronted look, "I couldn't exactly help it Erik, it was a dream. And I had been sleeping in your bed that night – Not that I managed to sleep much for that exact reason and –"

Sliding his hand into the hair at the base of Charles' neck, Erik tugged the other man back down to him and effectively stopped his rant by stealing a kiss, something Charles actually hummed, "Thankyou" to, his mouth curled into a soft smile as he looked down at Erik.

"I hadn't been making fun of you Charles," Erik clarified, "I'd thought it had been my dream."

"Oh," Charles breathed, leaning down to press his lips to Erik's briefly. "That's alright then," and then he looked over at the clock and sighed. "We really ought to be getting to class Erik," though Charles followed this up by kissing Erik again, a little longer this time.

"Mmm, probably." Erik's hand began to trail a little lower with each stroke of whichever pattern he'd taken to running up and down Charles' back, his lips searching for that particular spot on the side of Charles' throat that had elicited delightful noises from him the night before.

"Erik," Charles whispered, and Erik could hear the warning in it, but didn't particularly care as he dragged his teeth across Charles' adam's apple. For all the warning Charles had tried to imbue in that word, Erik had also heard the growing desire behind it.

"Yes, Charles?"

"Class," the other man repeated, and Erik smirked at the breathlessness in his voice. At the fact that, for all of Charles' good intentions, he had still shifted so that he was straddling Erik's hips as Erik ravished his neck.

"Indeed."

As Erik ghosted his hands up along the back of Charles' thighs, he couldn't help but grin with victory as Charles hissed "Fuck it," before he tilted Erik's head back by taking hold of his hair, and firmly melded their lips together. 'You're a horrible influence,' he admonished, even as his tongue sought out Erik's.

Neither of them managed to get to a single lecture until after lunch, and Erik smirked to himself as Charles reluctantly left to go to his class. He wondered if Charles realised that Erik had left a noticeable mark just above his collar-line.

When he received a horrified 'Erik!'not five minutes later, Erik couldn't help but smirk down at his notes. Apparently, he hadn't.

~X~

Erik had never cared for labels, and so it didn't occur to him to give the new direction his relationship with Charles had taken a name. He hadn't felt that it was necessary. It wasn't until Erik overheard the other students theorising that he realised that maybe this was a time when a label was needed – if only so that things were perfectly clear.

"I just don't know Diana. They've always been that way."

"This is different I tell you! There's something new there – And you can't tell me you don't think it's strange they've started walking around campus with their hands locked together -They never did that before."

Erik was just about to snap at the two gossiping girls to shut the hell up so that he could get some work done, when they said something actually managed to catch his attention, and he instead took a step closer to the bookcase between so that he could listen with better clarity.

"Yes, but … It's Charles and Erik. They've always been closer than was normal … Maybe this is just some new thing? Charles looks like a hand-holder after all." It took all of Erik's self control to not scoff at the hope in the girls voice.

"There is no possible way that you actually believe that. I know that you've got a crush on Erik, so I'm sure you're thinking of every possible excuse but … There's no way around this one, Lisa. There's something special between Charles and Erik."

"Jeez Diana. That's a little harsh," the Lisa girl muttered, and Erik was just about to walk away thinking he'd heard all they had worth listening to, when she blurted. "You really think they're together-together though? Like, boyfriends? From what Jessica says about Charles' senior years in school, he was more than a little promiscuous."

Erik's nose flared at that little bit of information. Charles had never mentioned he'd had a reputation before. Thinking on it, Erik realised that he didn't know much about Charles' school life before Oxford at all, and that was something he intended on remedying - Especially if there were things like Charles' promiscuity that he wasn't aware of.

He was distracted from his thoughts by the first girls' voice. "I think so. Who can say for sure though. I certainly hadn't imagined Erik being gay but …"

And that was the point that Erik rolled his eyes, closed his book, and walked away, deciding that he'd gleaned as much information from listening in to that conversation as was possible.

As Erik made his way to his room, he couldn't stop thinking about the concept of a Charles that slept around enough to earn a reputation, and frowned as he considered the implications – Was this not 'special' to Charles if that was the case? Was Erik just another notch on his bedpost? It wasn't as though they'd spoken about it and agreed they were 'together' after all, they had simply been sleeping together. And it was true that Charles and he had taken to walking around the campus with twined hands - it only seemed natural to do so after the first time Charles had slipped his hand into Erik's with a shy smile - but did that make them a 'couple', or …

Erik ran a hand down his face as he thought. Why could things never be simple when they concerned Charles? Or people in general for that matter.

He was pulled out of his reverie as a hand brushed up against his and didn't hesitate to thread their fingers together. Charles had somehow appeared beside him, and was looking up at Erik with a smile on his face. With the thoughts whirling around his head, Erik wasn't sure whether he should grin back the way he normally did, or pull his hand free.

Erik ended up settling for quirking his lips in an almost smile, before continuing his path to his room, Charles' hand still twined with his.

"Something troubling you, my friend?" Charles asked, looking up at Erik with concern as he followed, the content smile fading and giving way to a worried frown.

Ah – and there it was. 'My friend' Charles had said, and Erik found that term was simply unacceptable at this point.

"'My friend'?" Erik repeated, the question coming out as a growl, and Charles sensed that something wasn't right because his eyebrows drew together, and he tightened his grip on Erik's hand enough that they stopped walking.

"Erik?"

"What does this," and Erik raised their still joined hands so that Charles knew exactly what Erik was referring to, "mean to you Charles? Because, I have to admit, 'my friend' wasn't what I had in mind after everything that has happened this past week."

"Of course that isn't – I didn't think we needed to - … What brought this on?" Charles spluttered, his cheeks flushing with indignation.

"Why don't you just take a look for yourself?" Erik sighed, and Charles hesitantly raised his fingers to his temple, his mouth pulled into an uncertain frown as he did so.

As he listened to the conversation Erik had overheard, Charles' brows drew together as he took in not only the words the girls had spoken, but Erik's musings about it as well. Once he'd finished, Charles pinched at the bridge of his nose.

"People and their damnable need to gossip," he sighed, and Erik raised an expectant eyebrow at him. "What do you want me to say Erik? Yes, I slept around in my senior years – You knew that I'd been no virgin the first time we were together."

"That, actually, isn't the part that bothers me," Well, not much. Maybe a little bit … But not because he thought any less of Charles for it - it was because he now had an undefined amount of people to be a little jealous of. Charles must have understood that, because he briefly smiled up at Erik with amusement, before that faded and was replaced with a troubled frown.

"It didn't even occur to me that we would need to clarify what we were."

Had it not been for those girls gossiping, Erik wouldn't have thought it necessary either. But, now, he wasn't so sure – and maybe he needed to hear it, if only so that he knew with infallible certainty that the two of them wanted the same thing.

Charles simply looked up at Erik with wide eyes as he brought his free hand up and cupped Erik's cheek, his thumb trailing along the skin there tenderly. Erik resolutely swore that he did not turn his head into that touch – Or, well, maybe he did, but he would still deny that he had, even to Charles. Slowly, Charles stretched up on his toes and brushed his lips against Erik's in a feather-light kiss, and Erik's hand automatically curled around the smaller man's waist.

Pulling back just barely, still close enough that that their lips were just touching, Charles sighed, "Oh Erik. You mean so much more to me than a 'notch on a bedpost' – I'd thought that was obvious."

"That isn't what I'm asking Charles." Even if it is good to know.

"Of course it isn't," Charles said, resting his forehead against Erik's as he shifted his hand around so that it threaded through the hairs at the back of Erik's neck. His other was still holding onto Erik's tightly. "But it seems so juvenile to say 'Erik, we're boyfriends aren't we?'"

"And is that what we are Charles?"

If it weren't for the fact that his heart was pounding annoyingly hard in his chest, Erik might have found the way that Charles blushed and buried his head into the crook of Erik's shoulder amusing. As it was, he was a touch too nervous about the answer to fully appreciate the reaction.

"Is – Is that what you want, Erik?"

Erik rolled his eyes, before scoffing "And you'd thought you were obvious. I'd have thought that I was even more so." Charles didn't look up from his hiding spot against Erik's neck though, and for the first time Erik realised that maybe Charles wasn't as all-knowing as he liked to seem.

Tentatively, Erik took hold of Charles' chin and lifted it so that the other man was forced to look him in the eye. It was a little surprising and a touch disconcerting to see the way that Charles' eyes were clouded with anxiety, which was precisely why Erik soldiered through his pounding heart to say, quite clearly, "Of course that's what I want Charles. Anything else is simply unacceptable."

The way that Charles beams up at him with a blinding smile before he literally launches himself at Erik, his arms wrapping tightly around the taller man's neck, makes Erik wonder why they even allowed things to go unspoken between them at all. "Honestly Charles, do you think I tell everyone that I love them and then proceed to fuck them?" The fact that Erik had never told anyone that he loved them before was completely beside the point.

"Of course not – Though I really wish you'd stop calling it that. We make love, not fuck," Charles mutters, and Erik can't help the chuckle that works its way up his throat at the decided pout in Charles' tone.

"That certainly isn't what you were saying last night," Erik breathes into Charles' ear, his mouth pulling into a lewd smirk as the sound of Charles' moans floats around his mind. And then Erik frowns as something occurs to him. "Charles, you do realise that I haven't got the faintest idea of how to be someone's 'boyfriend', right?"

Charles pulls back to give Erik a glare, before saying, "First of all, you're not just 'someone's' boyfriend – You're my boyfriend, which is infinitely worse, I'm afraid." If it weren't for the brief quirk of Charles' lips that gave away the fact that he was joking, Erik might have actually been worried about what he'd gotten himself into. Or, he would have been, if the possessive growl in Charles' voice wasn't inspiring Erik to consider pinning the smaller man's body against the wall and doing unspeakable things to him.

"It means, "Charles continued, "that if you show even the slightest amount of interest in someone else, I'll know, and there's no way for you to hide things from me. I'm an absolute nightmare when I'm sick, and I'll fully expect you to take care of me and pander to my every whim. I hog the blanket, and I absolutely loathe mornings. And, you'll have to deal with overly protective sisters that will castrate you without hesitation should you ever break my heart," Erik actually flinched at this last statement, because if the scathing look Raven had given him the first day she'd seen Erik walking around with Charles' hand in his was any indication, Charles was not joking with that last one.

And then, Charles smiled fondly before he raised himself up and pressed his lips to Erik's briefly, "Aside from that, the only difference between before and now, is that we get to make out."

"I think I can handle that," Erik muttered, tugging Charles tighter against him as he captured his lips in a more heated kiss.

Much to Erik's chagrin, the telepath pulled back abruptly, regarded Erik with eyes that were a shade darker than usual and began to walk away, keeping his hold on Erik's hand so that he was forced to follow.

"Where are we going Charles?" Erik sighed, even as he allowed himself to be lead out of the secluded hallway.

Charles grinned over at him mischievously before he told Erik, "To practise being boyfriends, of course." Erik decided that he saw no reason to object to that – That Electrical theory thesis could wait another hour or two. Or maybe a day … He'd get it done later. Right now, he had boyfriend-like things to do that took precedence.

~X~

He can't seem to drag his eyes away from the clock, which is more than a little frustrating. Erik has an exam tomorrow, and he really ought to be sleeping so that his mind is alert for the exam – Even if he has found all other exams so far exceedingly simple – but instead, Erik is watching the clock as it counts down the minutes.

It's twenty past two, and Charles is still out. Somebody that Charles knew had been throwing a party, and Erik had pointedly refused to go, seeing as he didn't know the person and simply couldn't be bothered with dealing with the inane antics of drunken humans.

That, of course, hadn't stopped Charles from going, and he was still out, and Erik scowled into the darkness as he remembered how flirty Charles got when he was drunk. Although Erik trusted Charles to know that he wasn't fool enough to actually do anything, even the idea of him flirting and having others flirt back was enough to make Erik lay there, grinding his teeth as he watched the time pass by.

At twenty to three, the sense of a key entering his lock made Erik hastily roll over so that his back was facing the door, determined to at least pretend that he was asleep - He wasn't about to let Charles know that while he'd been out partying, Erik had laid in bed waiting for him. That was just ridiculous – Erik Lensherr did not wait for his boyfriend to return as if he were some kind of puppy.

Arms slid around his waist as a chuckle reverberated around his mind and Charles' voice told him, 'I know that you're awake Erik.'
'
And you really ought to learn how to control yourself better when you're smashed'

'I'm not smashed, just a little tipsy… Or drunk, not quite sure which of the two'

Erik could feel Charles' nose brushing along the side of his neck, could feel his breath ghosting across the skin there, and sighed a little as the younger man pushed a cold leg in between Erik's, apparently attempting to wrap himself around Erik so completely that it was like he was trying to merge their bodies into one. And Erik absolutely did not find it relieving to know that, even when drunk, Charles wanted him so entirely. He just happened to sleep better when Charles was beside him.

'Liar,' Charles said, his mental voice a mere whisper with Charles border on sleep the way that he was.

"Go to sleep Charles," Erik sighed, his hand coming up to twine with Charles' at his hip of its own accord.

"Yes Erik," Charles breathed, and then, unexpectedly, added, "Love you."

Erik froze at the sound of those words, blinking a few times with surprise. Although he was aware that Charles cared for him – The fact that they were a few months into their relationship despite the heated arguments they still had was a testament to that – and although Erik knew that Charles knew that he loved him, Charles had never actually said those words to him before, and it was … Startling, in a way, because the last person to tell him that they loved him was his mother.

'I'd thought you were aware that I did though' Charles' mental-voice was a little more alert now, so Erik didn't feel guilty for rolling over and pinning Charles to the bed, his eyes looking up at Erik with bemusement.

"Knowing it, and hearing it are completely different things," Erik said as he ducked down to kiss the corners of Charles' mouth. Charles' arms wound around Erik's waist as he shifted so that the next kiss Erik had meant for his nose ended up finding Charles' lips.

"I love you," Charles pulled back to tell him, one hand running up Erik's back to thread through his hair, holding Erik in place with a firm grip as he looked up at him. "I've loved you since before I can remember."

Erik's only response was to kiss Charles with more force than before, more passion, trying to will his awe into that kiss. Charles seemed to understand, because Erik could feel that his lips had curled into a smile as he pressed himself up into Erik insistently, one leg shifting to curl around his hip.

In some distant part of his mind, Erik wondered if Charles was aware that Erik had been in love with him since they had been children. As a breathy moan trembled from Charles' lips though, Erik decided he had more important things to be concentrating on at that point in time.

~X~

In some rational part of his mind, Erik isn't particularly surprised when he notices the recognisable figure of Emma Frost sashaying around the hallways of Oxford – Shaw managed to find his way to England, so it stood to reason that Emma would follow shortly after. That doesn't mean that he's any less infuriated when he spots her though, and it takes all of his self control to not pin her to the wall by her throat. He's too busy focusing on her to notice the way that the nearby tap suddenly curls in on itself.

This time last year, Erik wouldn't have cared if she'd found him – Although Emma had always been an irritation, it was Shaw that he'd been trying to cut ties with. Now, however, armed with the knowledge that it was entirely because of her inability to keep her stolen knowledge to herself Shaw came to yearn for Raven – or, more specifically, her power - Charles had been forced to re-locate, and because of her his mother had been murdered in cold blood … Well, with all that considered, Erik certainly wasn't as dismissive about her reappearance as he may have been before.

Erik may have promised Charles that he wouldn't seek her out for vengeance, but that didn't mean he was going to leave her alone if she was fool enough to appear before him again. And since Charles was away on a day trip to some laboratory, it meant that Erik wasn't being scolded for his violent intentions.

Before Erik could even pull a shred of metal towards him though, Emma cocked her head and fixed him with an irritated glare. "Erik, honey, you really need to learn to not think so loud. I see that you're as melodramatic as ever, however."

"Emma," Erik snarled, her nonchalant attitude only serving to further his anger. Not for the first time, Erik wished that the infernal woman actually wore jewellery – A necklace to pull on would have been marvellous just then.

"Yes, yes, you're highly affronted because a younger and naïve me tried to get into Shaw's pants by telling him about some powerful mutants nearby. Do save it darling. Can we skip the violence I know you crave? I just got a manicure and would really rather not render it pointless to have done so."

"How many times must I tell you to stay the fuck out of my head?"

Emma simply shrugged a delicate shoulder, completely unrepentant, before she threw her head back and laughed, the sight of which startled Erik enough that he temporarily forgot about his want to main the woman before him. Erik wasn't sure what he mistrusted more – A cold and unfeeling Emma, or an Emma that seemed to have a weight lifted from her shoulders.

"Oh, love," she said with a smile, before she continued to saunter out into the courtyard, Erik following her warily, "It's hard to do so when you're practically yelling them to me. By the way, I'm glad to see that the telepath and his shape shifting sister are doing well."

Before Erik had even stopped to think about it, he pulled the screws out of a bench and held them at Emma's throat, his eyes blazing as he looked at her. How dare she mention Charles so callously?

"Chill the fuck out would you?" Emma snapped, and Erik begrudgingly respected the way she didn't even flinch as the points dug into her flesh, knowing full well that she could shift into her diamond form if she was worried about the damage Erik could cause her as long as she held onto her human skin.

Narrowing his eyes, Erik pushed the screws in with a little more force, and felt a stab of vindictive pleasure when a small trickle of blood trailed out from one of them. "What do you want Emma?" he growled, not even caring that his behaviour was earning startled gasps from the few students who had thought to soak up the sun while they had a chance. They all hurriedly snatched at their belongings and darted away, casting furtive glances in Erik and Emma's direction, and Erik knew that Charles would be upset when he found out about this, but he didn't care right then.

"Want?" Emma repeated, her perfectly plucked eyebrows rising with surprise, "Must I want something to decide to check up on you?"

"When it was never as though we were the closest of friends – Yes," was what Erik said. What he meant was When you're going to comment about Charles' well being and make me get defensive, yes.

"I'm thoroughly offended Erik. Here I am, at Oxford, entirely because I could feel your presence and you accuse me of threatening your Telepath," Emma sighed heavily as though she had been grievously wounded, but Erik just continued to glare at her, all too resistant to her theatrical nature after the years he'd been forced to endure it. She seemed to understand this too, because with a huff, she said, "Fine. I was concerned and wanted to make sure you were actually alive after Shaw came hunting you down – Is that reason enough?"

"I still find that highly unlikely."

"Believe what you want Erik, it's the truth. Now, kindly remove these screws from my neck before I'm forced to get nasty."

Hesitantly, Erik did as he was asked and returned the screws to their proper place. He still watched Emma with narrowed eyes though, highly mistrusting of the woman who had been Shaw's right-hand man for so many years.

"Oh please," Emma groaned as she seated herself on the nearest bench, even though she turned her nose up at it initially. "I was as much a pawn to him as you were - It just took me far too long to realise that. Some use telepathy is when you can't even pick up something like that. It's like emotions," and Emma was suddenly looking up at Erik with a piercing gaze, "Although you can see someone's memories, and hear their thoughts, you can't tell what their emotions at the time were."

Recognising the signs of Emma fishing for information, Erik sighed as he allowed himself to fall onto the bench seat opposite the blonde. "Where are you going with this Emma?"

"Are you happy, Erik?" she asked, apparently deciding to forego subtlety entirely.

Erik simply blinked over at the woman uncertainly before saying, "I'm sorry?" positive that he had misheard her question. In all the time that Erik had known her, Emma had been entirely self-serving, so for her to suddenly seem to care about his happiness was strange, to say the least … But, if the woman's words were to be believed, she'd been concerned about his fate after the encounter with Shaw so, who could say. Perhaps this Shaw-less Emma wasn't quite so selfish? Erik almost snorted aloud at the unlikeliness.

If Emma was listening to Erik's thoughts, she paid them no mind as she repeated, slowly, accentuating each syllable "Are you happy? You are aware of what it means to be happy, aren't you, love? I want to know if you are."

Oh. He hadn't misheard her then, and Erik's mouth tugged into a frown as he considered the question. He'd never given something like 'Happiness' a thought before – The constant struggle to be 'happy' was one that Erik had never cared for, mainly because as long as people left him alone, he had been. But then Charles returned to his life and …

No one could say that things were 'perfect' between Charles and himself now that they were in a relationship – They still fought, often. The most heated of which generally revolved around their vastly differing opinions about humans; Erik simply regarded them with disdain, while Charles seemed to have immeasurable hope for their potential. Unlike before though, their arguments almost always ended with a sudden clash of teeth and lips, which led to angry sex loud enough that Charles had taken to flooding nearby mind's with a feeling reminiscent to that of having water-logged ears.

And Erik was still highly jealous of anyone who spoke to Charles for longer than two minutes. Even if Charles stood there and held his hand throughout the entire conversation, the other student always ended up retreating from over-exposure to Erik's glare. No matter how often Charles scolded him for this, caught somewhere between amusement and frustration, Erik knew it was something that wasn't likely to change any time soon.

The fact that Moira and Charles were close friends certainly didn't mean that Erik had come to like the woman's presence, either. Even if he was slowly starting to be able to appreciate the reasoning behind her barbed comments – She cared for Charles, and Erik was being forced to grudgingly admire and respect exactly how much she cared for Charles, even if it was also highly irritating at times.

No matter how much Charles tried, he still couldn't convince Erik to be more sociable either. This, of course, meant that there were often nights where Erik would hide in his dorm room and pretend to not be waiting for Charles. Nights where he would sit there, staring at his text book without taking in a single word and wonder if that night would be the one where Charles would realise that he could do so much better than someone as volatile, and unapproachable as Erik. Charles always crept into the room in the early hours of the morning, however, and only too readily snuggled his cold self into Erik's back, which instantly melted away Erik's fears and concerns, Charles sleepily admonishing him for it each and every time without fail.

And, as Erik thought about it, images of Charles flashed through his mind – A collage of those unbearably bright, trusting eyes. Snapshots of warm and tender smiles, of knowing smirks, of amused grins, of kiss-swollen lips. A million flashes of Charles, and it was all Charles, Charles, Charles, and Erik was smiling to himself completely unable to help himself.

No. Things were not 'perfect' with Charles, and maybe they never would be, but they were absolutely perfect in their imperfection, and Erik couldn't be happier with that. The answer to Emma's question was so startlingly obvious, it almost took Erik's breath away.

"Yes," he told Emma, meeting her still piercing gaze with a defiant one of his own. Erik even raised his chin challengingly as she arched an eyebrow cynically at the declaration. "I'm happy, Emma. Happier than I ever dreamed I would be in fact."

"Is that so? I'm glad to hear that," she said, and Erik was momentarily stunned by the amount of sincerity in her voice. Then, her eyes flicked over to the archway leading into Oxford's entrance hall. "Just to be clear, I wasn't mind-fucking him. Apparently the 'fucking' is entirely your job now, darling."

The statement itself seemed to come completely out of nowhere, until Erik realised that he could feel a familiar shape of metal standing in the doorway. A glance over revealed an astonished, blushing Charles, presumably from Emma's crass words.

As soon as Charles' eyes met his, Erik felt his lips curl into a smile, and it simply drove his revelation further home. Without realising it, Erik projected an impatient thought in Charles' direction, and Charles hesitated only a moment before walking into the small courtyard, eyeing Emma cautiously as he settled beside Erik, subconsciously twining their hands together as he did so.

"I'd ask who you were, but I'm already well aware," Charles said, looking over at Emma with narrowed eyes, and Erik was amused to hear the thinly-veiled suspicion in his tone.

Apparently Emma was too, because, again taking Erik by surprise, she threw her head back and laughed. "Oh darling, you are misunderstanding entirely. I have to say though, it amuses me to no end that you actually respect his desire that you keep out of his mind – It certainly never stopped me."

"Yes, well, one could say that comes down to a difference in values," Charles countered, his lips stretching into a fake, and somehow menacing, smile. Emma simply grinned in return, Erik watching the display with vague interest.

After a few moments, Charles visibly relaxed and Emma shrugged, leaving Erik to wonder what mental debate he'd just missed out on, but figured that Charles would tell him later if he was meant to know. For now, he was rather content simply burying his nose in Charles' hair as the younger man leant against him, even if Emma was looking at them with fascination.

"Well then," Emma said after a moment, standing up and dusting off the back of her skirt meticulously. "I can't sit around here all day – Watching the two of you is making me nauseous. Erik, it was good to see you again, and to meet you, Charles," and with one more nod in their direction, she sauntered back the way she'd come.

Erik didn't even bother looking up from his position to watch her go, opting instead to simply grunt a "Likewise," in her general direction. Much to Erik's surprise, Charles simply said a dismissive "Goodbye, Emma," and didn't insist on walking her out, as he seemed to do with almost everyone else they knew.

Before the sound of Emma's clicking heels had faded, Charles shifted so that he was sitting in Erik's lap, and sighed contentedly as he buried his head into Erik's chest. "That was strange," he muttered, and Erik hummed his agreement.

Charles was silent for a moment, and then, he says, "As much as I can't say that I agreed with her … I'm almost glad she did what she did." Erik pulled back to give Charles an incredulous stare, which Charles instantly pouted at before hastening to continue, "I simply mean that, if it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't have come here - You wouldn't have come here - and we might not have met again." Erik frowned as he thought about that, and Charles chewed at his lower lip before adding, "My point is, I can't imagine a future without you in my life – And I don't even want to try."

Maybe it's the words, or maybe it's the way that Charles blushes shyly after saying this, but Erik feels that the only adequate response is to tilt Charles' face up so that he's looking up into Erik's. He trails his knuckles down Charles' cheek reverently, and Charles' eyelids flutter shut at the feeling before Erik brings their lips together in a slow and languid kiss.

~X~

At the age of thirty three, Erik Lensherr finally manages to return to Germany for the first time since he left it when he was a child. Somewhere deep in his mind, he'd always told himself that the reason he never felt at "home" in New York, Europe, or England was because Germany was, surely, home.

As he wanders through the streets of Düsseldorf though, Erik feels absolutely no connection to the ground beneath his feet. He feels no sudden camaraderie with the strangers walking past him, even if he does deign to greet the few that acknowledge him. He feels nothing at all like his ten year old self had believed he would and everything is wrong.

Erik has returned to the airport and is changing his ticket, fully intending to be home within the next twenty four hours. Now that he's realised where "home" is, Erik doesn't intend on leaving again.

. . .

The house is dark when the cab pulls up outside, but that's to be expected considering the time. But then, as he continues to watch, Erik can see that, no, there is in fact a flickering lamp on in the library. The smile comes to Erik's face automatically.

Heart pounding a little as he opens the door and abandons his suitcase in the hallway, Erik wastes no time in heading towards the library, taking care to tread quietly as he passes the kid's rooms.

Slowly, he pushes the library door open, completely unable to fight off the tender look in his eye, or the smile on his face. Quietly, Erik makes his way across the room and presses his lips to his husband's temple.

Charles jerks awake at the light touch and actually holds his book up as if he believes that will help defend himself from an attacker. As soon as he blinks the sleep out of his eyes, and realises who's kneeling at his armchair, Charles smiles brightly.

"Erik!" he says delightedly, before his brows pull together with confusion. "What are you doing back? I'd thought you'd gone to Germany for a fortnight - It's only been a day!"

Erik silences Charles questions by kissing him softly. "I realised the home I'd been searching for had been here all along," he said, his hand coming up to play with the modified version of that woven ring he'd given to Charles all those years ago.

Charles simply beams down at him with that smile that lights up his whole face before he leans his forehead against Erik's, his hands looping behind Erik's neck as he does so.

The years had not been kind to them – They had broken up and gotten back together more times than Erik cared to remember. And neither of them had ended up in the professions they'd planned. Erik couldn't bring himself to regret a single thing though - The break up's had made their marriage of four years that much stronger, and he felt like he was doing some good with his life by helping Charles out in his school for gifted students – Which was just a polite way of saying people like them.

"Come to bed Charles," Erik whispered, his breath ghosting over Charles' ear, the feel of it eliciting a shiver from the other even after all this time. Before he could say even a word, Erik had picked him up – One arm winding around his back and the other settling into the crook of his knees. Charles' lips spread into a smile as they brushed against Erik's, his arms still twined around Erik's neck.

"Welcome home, love," he whispered before tugging Erik into a proper kiss.

Yeah, I'm home, Erik thought, and he was absolutely astounded it took him so long to realise that, as long as Charles was there, he would be.

And that is it. That is the end. I sincerely hope that you all liked it - It was so fluffy I gave myself cavities while writing it, haha!

. I honestly did not mean for this to end up being so long - This fic was initially meant to be a brief one-shot for my good friend Ile ... As I started writing though it kinda ... Spiralled out of control though. Not that I'm complaining, since I did rather enjoy writing it!

Once again, I just wanted to say thankyou so much to everyone who reviewed, favourited, or simply read as I was posting - It made me happier than you can possibly imagine to know that you were enjoying the story, and I hope that it managed to live up to your expectations.
Just, thankyou all so much for reading and staying with me for my first Cherik fic - Hopefully, it won't be the last either.

Big hugs to you all!