-x-

It wasn't a big secret that Charles had a very busy social life. Girls would call all the time, left and right, much to the chagrin of his mother. Sometimes she'd even see them sneaking in and out of his room at night. Raven was not oblivious to the on goings of her oldest friend, especially since he never tried all that hard to hide them.

Yes, she knew about them and, despite her best efforts, she still felt the stirrings of jealousy whenever she saw him with yet another girl.

She told herself it was because she'd never had that, that affection from a man. She told herself that it wasn't because of the specific man bestowing it upon these girls, but just that she wished she had that type of relationship. She'd never even kissed a boy before, much less been asked out, and here Charles was with a different girl on his arm every week. It just made her jealous that she hadn't had that yet, and she desperately wanted it.

She sighed as she saw yet another girl sneaking out the door before Charles's mother came down. The man himself came strolling down another few minutes later, whistling a chipper tune in the morning air. She continued to chew her mouthful of cereal and watched with fond exasperation as he set about making himself some breakfast, neither speaking just yet.

It wasn't until he sat down with his omelet that she finally decided to break the silence.

"Another one, huh?"

He glanced up at her, almost confusedly, but she knew better and so did he. Shrugging in response he took a bite of his meal.

"What can I say? They enjoy me, and I enjoy them. It's a beautiful relationship, really."

She cocked a brow as she stood up to clean her empty cereal bowl. "A relationship, is it?" She turned the sink on, washing out the milk residue, "I would have thought it's just passing flings with no emotional connection whatsoever. But call it what you like, I suppose."

She didn't have to be a telepath like him to hear him thinking. His fork clinked lightly against his plate and she waited for his reply, drying the bowl off and walking back to the cupboard to store it away.

"What caused you to wake up in such a mood? You're not usually this cranky until much later in the day," his voice was dry, but she could tell he was concerned and a little off put by the way she talked to him. She honestly didn't know why she had reacted like that, after all it was no different from every other morning. What was so special about today that made her act this particular way?

She rested her palms against the counter in front of her, letting her head droop a little, her blonde curls draped along her arms."I don't know, Charles," she exhaled. "I guess I'm just still tired."

Shaking her head, she forced herself to stand up straight and get her stuff ready for school. It wouldn't be that long until they had to leave, after all. She walked back to the table, making sure to keep a curtain of hair between them. She couldn't face him just yet.

At the sound of his chair scraping along the floor, however, she tensed.

"No, I don't think that's quite it. What's going on, Raven?" He stepped closer to her, his hand reaching as though to rest on her arm, but it didn't make contact. Not yet. "Are you alright?"

Biting her lip, she tried to ignore the urge to tell him what's wrong, even though she didn't even know how she'd begin to put what she felt into words.

When she felt his hand finally touch her arm, it caused her to look up without thinking.

He had always had pretty eyes. It was one of her favorite features about him. Bright blue that could pierce through a person's heart and thoughts even without the mutation to read minds. She suddenly had to resist the silly urge to close her eyes, just in case. She knew he'd never read her mind for real, she had made him promise not to years ago, but it still worried her that he might take a peek.

Not that there was anything there that she'd be worried about him seeing, of course. But it was the principle of the matter. At least that's what she told herself.

"I'm fine," she assured, but her voice shook too much for him to believe her. She would need to work on that.

He gave her a look and she grimaced, very uncomfortable with where this was going.

She tried to look away, to turn away, but his hand firmed on her arm, gently holding her back. "Raven...you know you can talk to me right?" She hesitated before looking back up to meet his imploring gaze, "Please, let me know what's wrong. I hate it when you shut me out."

She took a breath and held it for a moment. Could she tell him? What would she tell him?

Her mouth decided for her, her words coming out in a blundering rush, "I've never been kissed," and immediately wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. To her even larger embarrassment, she felt her face begin to flush.

His expression was one of complete shock, though she expected nothing less. His eyes were wide and his jaw looked like it was trying to become good friends with the floor.

"Wh-wha-?"

Her hands flew up, dislodging his grip on her and allowing her to look away, "Oh God, this is stupid! Just ignore what I said, okay?" She hurried to gather all of her belongings. "Come on, we gotta-"

"No, wait a minute, Raven, we should talk about this," his hand was pulling her back again and she kind of hated how powerless she was to resist.

"No, we really don't. Look, it doesn't matter. I'm just tired and my mouth is running ahead of my brain; it's nothing ok." She still couldn't meet his eyes, could still feel the heat on the back of her neck.

"It's not nothing if it's how you feel, Raven." His voice was soft and caring and she couldn't help the shiver that went up her spine and the warmth that pooled in her stomach.

"Yea, well…I don't really want to talk about it, okay. It was a mistake." She tried to tug her arm away but he continued to hold her back. She bit her lip, "Please, Charles. Just let it go. I don't want to talk about it."

Silence. She refused to look back at him, knowing she'd be done for if she did.

"Alright." And he let her go.

She took a deep breath, before blindly smiling at him over her shoulder. "Then let's go. School waits for no one, not even someone with your amount of money."

He chuckled, following her out the door, "Just like no amount of riches could buy a beautiful masterpiece like yourself, my dear."

"For a such a smart kid, you sure are a real dork, Charles."

"I thought I was an old fart?"

"That too, of course."

-x-

It was nighttime and she was ready to go straight to sleep. The day hadn't gotten better after this morning, only rougher with each passing minute. She was ready to close her eyes and forget it ever happened.

Dropping the last plate in its proper place, she dried her hands on a towel and made her way to the stairs, her feet feeling like lead blocks.

Before she took the first step up, a light in the living room caught her eye. It could have been only one person this late at night. She shook her head and smiled fondly as she headed in that direction.

Charles was sitting on the couch, his head bent back in a weird angle and his mouth wide open as he softly snored. A book sat wide open in his lap, papers falling haphazardly onto the floor. She bit back a smile before kneeling down to pick his stuff up quietly. Gently pulling his book away, trying not to wake him just yet, she set it to the side where it was safe before turning back to him.

"Charles?" she whispered softly, her hands lightly grasping his shoulders. "Charles?" she nudged him.

He let out a small hum of contentment and she tried to withhold the blush. She leaned in closer. "Charles? Wake up, you have to go upstairs. It's time for bed, come on."

"Mmm, Raven," he sighed, shifting to one side. She shook him a little harder, the flush on her cheeks probably full blown at this point- it was an uphill battle she was trying to fight, and she didn't want to lose.

"Charles!" she said a little sharper. He jerked awake, his eyes flying wildly around before landing on her face. Leaning back on her heels, she waited patiently for him to regain his bearings.

"Hum, what time is it, love?" his voice was bleary as he rubbed his eyes and stretched. She tried not to notice how his shirt pulled at his buttons, the fabric clinging to his chest as he tilted his head back and bared his neck. She gulped and stood up.

"Time for bed, old man. Let's go!" she clapped her hands as though she were encouraging a dog to follow and he shot her a dry look as he pulled himself to his feet. She looped her arm through his and lead him towards the stairs.

He began to protest, "Raven, I have to pick up my books, I can't just leave them there!"

"You can get them in the morning."

"But-"

"No 'buts', mister. Leaving them there won't hurt them and if you go anywhere near them again it'll just suck you right back down into that vortex of boredom. Right now you need some sleep!" She huffed and started tugging him up the stairs. "Now, come on!"

"Sometimes I wonder who exactly is supposed to be looking after the other in this relationship: me or you?" he chuckled, letting her continue to pull him up to the next floor.

"Obviously I have to take care of your lazy butt, otherwise you'd be completely lost by now," she grinned over her shoulder, her hair flying in an arc, before turning to walk to his door.

She thought she heard him sigh and murmur, "Probably," but she just shook her head and blamed it on sleep deprivation.

"Aaa-and here we are," she proclaimed silently now, since they were right down the hall from his mother's room. The last thing they needed to do was wake her. She opened his door and motioned him to go in.

"I'll see you in the morning," she whispered, getting ready to go get some sleep herself. But his hand caught her wrist and held her back. She spun around, expecting him to say something else but instead she was greeted his lips gently landing on hers.

She froze.

It didn't last that long really, but to her it was a lifetime. It was soft, almost chaste, but it was so passionate that it made her tummy summersault. He pulled away, one finger reaching up to push a curl behind her ear.

"Night, Raven. Sleep tight," he smiled fondly at her before turning around and going in his room, his door shutting behind him.

It took her a couple of minutes to move and when she did she almost toppled over, her knees were so wobbly.

Oh great, how was she going to get over him now?

…not that she was ever into him or anything…

…Oh, crap.

-x-