Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1007776.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      X-Men:_First_Class_(2011)_-_Fandom
  Relationship:
      Erik_Lehnsherr/Charles_Xavier
  Character:
      Charles_Xavier, Erik_Lehnsherr, Edie_Lehnsherr
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe, Alternate_Universe_-_Modern_Setting, Alternate
      Universe_-_No_Powers, Alternate_Universe_-_High_School, Alpha/Beta/Omega
      Dynamics, Mating_Cycles/In_Heat, First_Kiss, First_Time, Charles_Xavier
      has_a_Ph.D_in_Adorable, Erik_is_not_a_Happy_Bunny, Mpreg, Class
      Differences
  Stats:
      Published: 2013-10-17 Words: 9963
****** stranger than love or loss ******
by afrocurl
Summary
     Charles just wants to get through the weeks of Spring heat. Only life
     has other plans, especially with he meets a poor omega who can't find
     anyone else around.
     What comes next is a story of highs and lows as well as some self-
     actualization.
Notes
     The first parts were originally posted here and here, though there
     have been changes made to those two sections in this final version.
     This started as a gift, and then grew into something else (as is
     normal).
See the end of the work for more notes
Spring blooms just beyond the windows of Charles’ home and it only reminds him
that along with the warming weather will come a few weeks of pure hell at
school.
He's gotten used to how heat affects all of the omegas; it happened last
semester for his classmates and those ahead of him, and they all got through
it, but that doesn't mean he likes it. Everyone, collectively, loses their shit
- the omegas feeling the desperate need for an alpha to get them through heat
and the alphas all hoping that some omega will catch their scent quick enough
to be bonded. Charles just likes to stay in the library and walk to class and
ignore everyone else, as best he can. It’s harder and harder as the days
progress when any omega could walk up to him and hope that they are a match,
but it hadn’t happened before and he hopes it won’t happen again.
But as he looks out across the lawn, his body quickly turns from the sights
beyond him to the door; it’s unexpected to be drawn away from the placid
picture. There’s a pull - something so unfamiliar but at the same time so right
- that all but forces Charles from the second floor library and down to the
nearly empty kitchen. Nearly empty, save for a young man about Charles’ age,
shocked into silence on the floor.
The young man smells like the few omegas he knows at school, and he’s shaking
as if he’s not only scared but starting his heat.
“Can I help you?” Charles asks, realizing that there’s no one else to help the
boy, even though all of his sex-ed classes have insisted that alphas stay away
from omegas just in heat until the omega chooses with whom to bond. Too bad
that doesn’t work when his senses told him to come down here and there is no
one else present.
“No,” the young man whispers, still shaking. “Mamma will be back soon. She went
to unpack our luggage.”
“Is your mother the new maid?”
Charles sees a small nod in answer, and tries to stay where he can keep from
spooking him anymore. “Can you tell me your name? I can go find her for you if
you’d like.”
“Erik,” is the reply that Charles barely hears, Erik’s voice so small.
“Okay, Erik. I’m going to see if I can find your mother. You’ll be fine for
now, I promise. No one else is here right now.”
“Thank you,” Erik says before he curls against the stone floor, covering his
face with his hands. Charles smells more of Erik’s pheromones - tries to resist
staying at Erik’s side and rut against him - and runs off to find the newest
maid.
-
Rushing from the kitchen up the tiny stairwell of the servants’ quarters had
been something Charles enjoyed as a young boy, but at nearly seventeen, he had
left such explorations behind. Now, the whole area feels ghostly and foreign.
Charles knocks on as many doors as he can, hearing no reply before he sees one
door left ajar. Peeking in through the crack, the newest maid is hard at work
unpacking luggage when Charles nearly barges through the door.
He pushes into the space with no qualms about disturbing her work, loud as he
is. “Excuse me. I think your son is in the kitchen and he’s just started his
heat, ma’am. I know I shouldn’t be around him, but I didn’t want him to be
alone either.”
The woman looks up, a shocked expression on her face before she says, “Thank
you. I’ll be down there soon. Will you follow me?”
Charles tries to look at the ground to avoid answering. “That might not be
wise, ma’am. I’m an alpha.”
“Nonsense, dear. You came to get me, which is better than anyone else I know
right now. I’m sure Erik would like to have another face he recognizes through
this heat - you know that bondings are stronger when there’s some familiarity,
even only a few hours.” She stops putting away clothes and finally looks at
him.
“Now, shall we go...” she starts, and Charles is smart enough to fill in the
blank.
“Charles, ma’am.”
A faint blush appears on her face at the name, and Charles wants to run away.
He hates when the staff finally realize who he is, but right now he can’t avoid
it. “Well, let’s see how Erik’s doing now, Charles,” she says with a firm voice
and nearly knocks Charles down from where he’s standing.
Charles isn’t sure what to expect next, but he vaguely knows that he’ll finally
understand what heat means in practice rather than theory. There is nothing in
his mind that tells him he won’t be bonded to Erik within minutes, especially
since the young man’s mother seems to pay no attention to Charles’ pheromones.
Charles’ mind tries to understand how a mother could be so quick to bond her
son to another young man - a young man who has had a drastically different life
than they must have had until this point. Mother would never allow Charles that
freedom; in fact so far she’s been pleased that no one has bonded to him yet
because she can keep their blue blood status.
“You seem to at ease about this,” he says as they leave the small space of her
room.
“Long ago, I was like Erik, and I found that my parents tried to fight my
initial bonding. It did them no good. I didn’t think Erik was an omega, but I
know that whatever is meant to happen should. Nature runs in course as it
wants, and if you two are not compatible, the bond will be broken in less than
a year.”
He watches her face as they walk into the kitchen and just before they enter,
there’s a faint crinkle of her eyes and a pinch in her smile. She must be
accepting of this, even if she’s concerned. If she’s trying to look pleased to
appease Charles, he wants to tell her she can stop, but just as he thinks to
say anything, she looks at her son and gasps.
 
*
The floor does nothing to calm his mind. If anything, the cool tile makes
everything worse; the marble pressing against patches of skin so hot he can’t
take it. He squirms against them, trying to keep his skin well away, but all it
does is make the jolts of pain shift from arms to back to stomach. He just
wants everything to be over now.
In the larger context, he’s also surprised. He never had a thought that he
wouldn’t be an alpha - his physique and bold as brass attitude - but maybe
there’s just something fundamentally aggressive in him that doesn’t translate
into biology at all.
He doesn’t want to think about any of that as he continues to roll against the
floor, still looking for some measure of comfort. Instead, he tries to think of
what Mamma is going to say to him. Surely she’ll be disappointed - he knows
that she always wanted an alpha around after Papa died. She must want someone
to carry on the family name. He hates himself a bit as he feels his body
finally react to Charles’ lingering pheromones. The young man is not someone
Erik would have thought to find at school - Charles has delicate features: not
just his small frame, but a boyish face with rounded cheeks and wide trusting
eyes, to be someone that would hang out with Erik - but as he thinks back to
the wide smile, those blue eyes, and a voice that calmed him just a fraction,
Erik feels momentarily serene in a way that’s too foreign.
He’s scared of feeling like that all the time. He’s done so well living on rage
- battling against families who overwork Mamma for low wages, battling against
societal rules that tell him Mamma can’t do a good job raising him without an
alpha - but as he thinks of Charles there’s no edge to his thoughts, no boiling
emotions that threaten to split him wide. He wants something else entirely.
He tries to remember the scent; he wants to follow it just as much as he wants
to run from it. Erik’s never been good at keeping friends, even now towards the
end of high school. He’s gruff and insistent and those qualities are not what
makes a good omega - he’s learned that over and over again in school sex
education classes. He’s not good with children, so how he is supposed to raise
one? Omegas are meant to be nurturing and docile, and Eriks he has no
propensity for either of those traits.
Those thoughts feel like self-denial, he thinks, but he knows that he’s less
than he was just hours before. Chasing those feelings away, he tries to curl
into himself: to hide from Mamma and Charles and everything else he knows.
Just as he feels comfortable, though, he hears footsteps and slowly sees
Mamma’s shoes and Charles’ too.
“Go away,” he says, his voice cracking as he tries to be forceful. He will be
strong through this whole process, even if that makes Charles want to run away
from him.
“Erik, dear, we can’t. You need someone with you.” Her voice is a beacon and he
opens his eyes to look at her. She’s next to him on the floor, and he can’t
think of how she found the time to sit next to him when he just saw her feet
seconds before. Maybe heat makes you lose track of time, though he can’t
remember any class saying that before.
“I don’t want this,” he tries again. He just wants to hide. He wants to never
know this feeling in his stomach - the lurch of pure want - he wants to avoid.
He’s good at hiding in plain sight when the time is right, yet right now he’s
on display, desperate and demanding, in turn defiant and determined.
“We should get him into a room.” Charles’ voice sounds softer than it had
before, but just thinking of Charles’ voice makes Erik shift, letting out a
breathy moan as he does. “We have plenty of rooms upstairs if you’d rather he
be alone, ma’am.”
Erik wants nothing like that at all, but he can’t seem to find his voice, his
mind simply pushes away everything else but the feeling of want that’s stronger
now and the way his body is responding to Charles. He tries to move closer to
where he thinks Charles is standing, but his mother pulls at his shoulders.
“Stay here,” she says.
He feels something slick between his thighs and whimpers.
“I think he’s going to need someone to stay with him. I’m useless here as old
omegas are not what young omegas need in times like these. I know this bond
might not last more than three heats, but Erik needs an alpha with him,” his
mother says as she tries to put his head on her thighs again, even as he tries
to move towards the other boy’s voice. She tries to find the spot on his back
that always eases him down, but she misses as Erik’s body tries to shy away
from anyone that isn’t an alpha. “Charles found you, and came to find me. Isn’t
what all you need to know?” she asks.
“I--” Charles starts, but stops. “I’ll help him through this. He can stay with
me. If you don’t mind, Erik? There’s no one else our age in the house right
now.”
“Erik? Does that sound okay? Charles will stay with you, but only if you want
him to.”
His brain finally lets him speak. “Yes,” he says just before he looks up at
Charles and smiles. He hates himself for smiling, but something about Charles
makes him do everything that he’s never wanted to do before.
“Let’s get you up then, and we’ll all walk. Is that what you want?” His
mother’s voice is calm, and he desperately wants to ask why she’s so calm with
what is happening. She should be more nervous about Charles - about everything
- and instead she’s the opposite of that. There’s a smile on her face and it
makes Erik feel a bit better about situations being what they are, but he’s
still scared.
He nods again, not trusting his voice because Charles, who moved down to his
level, has his hand against Erik’s hip. It only makes Erik wetter when he
finally stands.
Charles’ whole body makes Erik want to gasp, mewl, whimper and whine, but he
doesn’t know if that’s what he should do. He can’t trust his body at all; his
brain warring with his natural responses to flee.
He loses his mind in the close feeling of Charles’ body against his and walks
tucked against the boy who could be his forever. He wants to shout against the
union, but as he thinks to say anything, Charles’ hand settles on the small of
Erik’s back and the thought vanishes.
He loses track of time, because the next thing he knows, he’s on Charles’ bed
and Charles is looking at him with a quizzical eye. He feels like Charles is
judging him and all it makes him want to do is cry. He’s not a perfect omega,
he can tell, and he never will be. Instead of looking at Charles, Erik tries to
take in the room: Charles has a laptop sitting closed on the dresser next to
his cell phone and a few textbooks. It only distracts him for a moment before
he focuses back on what’s about to happen.
Tears start to fall without Erik knowing why, but the small beads of water tell
him that he’s feeling and wanting something for the first time. Foreign as the
tears are, Erik’s mind starts to tell him that Charles is his and that there is
nothing wrong, and though he wants to deny everything, he says nothing - his
body incapable.
Charles’ expression, when Erik manages to open his eyes and see through tears,
is soft. Careful. Cautious.
“It’s okay,” Charles murmurs, shifting closer to Erik’s body as he does.
Charles’ hand come to rest on Erik’s back and it makes Erik want to stop
crying. “You’re beautiful,” Charles whispers. “We’ll get through this.”
Charles sounds so sure, and Erik wants to believe him because he wants to be
good. He wants, well, he wants everything right now. He shifts closer to
Charles, tries to bring his head onto Charles’ thigh, but Charles stills him.
Charles wipes the tears away with the pad of his thumb. Erik’s body wiggles
away, afraid of the intimacy, but Charles moves to cover Erik, forcing Erik to
look into Charles’ eyes.
“Let’s do something else first,” Charles tries, looking at Erik’s body like
it’s something precious. “You’re flushed and sweating. Let’s get you out of
your clothes.”
Erik vaguely feels Charles’ hands against his jeans and shirt before there’s
cool air against Erik’s entire body. He shifts, feeling too cold and too hot at
the same time. There’s slick about to fall onto the duvet, but Erik doesn’t
care because he’s so alight with something heady that Erik wants to stay like
this forever.
“We’re almost done,” Charles says instead of addressing Erik’s movement, but
just as he wants to say that he never wants to be done, one of Charles’ hands
ghosts against the elastic of his boxer-briefs.
A gasp escapes his lips again, and Erik tries to follow the increase of
pleasure that cuts through him. “One more minute,” Charles says while sliding
Erik’s underwear off. Erik’s unsure how Charles knows all of this, but there
must be something in the way of the bond that makes any alpha - his alpha - so
secure.
There’s a lack of Charles’ presence just after he feels the cotton at his
ankles and he whimpers again, this time at the lack of contact. He never knew
that all that talk about omega’s needing an alpha was true, but now he
understands. He hates himself for being so connected to a boy he barely knows,
but Charles’ scent is a lure that Erik thinks he’ll chase for his life now,
drawn to it as he is.
He needs Charles in a way that he hadn’t thought possible before. Just out of
Erik’s direct line of sight, Charles wrestles with his own clothes, awkward
clanks of a belt and an “Oof!” followed by Charles’ disappearance from Erik's
vision all together.
A minute later, Charles reappears - closer now - and Erik looks down at what
Charles is like under the khakis and button-down shirt. There’s no definition
to Charles’ stomach, unlike Erik’s own, but Charles seems perfectly content
with his appearance. Erik wants to reach out, wants to touch Charles again, but
Charles is still too far away.
“Charles,” Erik says as he feels more slick between his legs and he finally
looks at his erection, red and leaking.
“I’m here,” he says before he finally rejoins Erik on the bed.
Charles telegraphs everything from then on, exaggerated movements that should
be a turnoff, but only make Erik want him more. This all feels like too much,
but not enough. Charles’ hands are cautious as they trail along Erik’s flank,
chest and stomach.
“Let’s try this first,” Charles says when he moves his face closer to Erik’s.
Erik’s never been kissed before, and he tries to open his mouth for Charles
before he feels a finger against his lips. “We’ll work up to that.”
Erik tries to whine in protest - which is something he wants to erase after; he
doesn’t whine - but Charles’ lips meet his and he moans instead. Charles is
tentative, but as Erik’s lust makes him push up to meet Charles more
forcefully, Charles complies. The kisses grow deeper - mouths open, teeth
clicking, tongues battling, and it all makes Erik’s mind go blank from spiked
pleasure.
It takes no time at all for Charles to know what makes Erik writhe and moan,
just as it takes no time for Erik to feel Charles’ own erection against his
outer thigh.
“Please,” Erik says as Charles nips at his collarbone, the two of them having
moved beyond kissing lips to lips. “I’m--” he starts, but fails to finish when
one of Charles’ hands pulls at Erik’s erection. He tries to reach out to bring
Charles between his legs, to have that warmth and presence on top of him
instead of to the side.
“Just a while longer. You’re not going to be able to take me if I knot you
right now.”
The idea of Charles knotting him on his first heat makes Erik’s hip buck
upwards, more need coursing through his veins. He wants to hate himself for
wanting to be bred so soon, but Charles feels right with him, and anything less
will never count.
“You don’t,” Charles starts, but stops as he moves his hand from Erik’s
erection to his legs. There’s a short push on one of Erik’s inner thighs before
he’s spread open, wide and inviting for Charles. His legs take Charles’
suggestion, and the feeling of being laid bare both scares and excites him. He
cannot stop his mind from its back-and-forth struggle, but lust and heat seem
to have the upper hand over his other responses.
Erik wants nothing more than for Charles to finally push inside and as he wants
more and more, he fails to notice Charles’ finger pushing through the slick at
his hole and into him.
“Fuck!” Erik nearly screams as Charles works one digit in and out before he
adds another. Erik tries to grab at Charles, looking for more friction, more
contact, more of everything. He’s lost in his heat, so desperate he’s on the
verge of confessing his undying love for a fuck.
“Soon enough,” is all Charles says, though Erik doesn’t need to hear anything
from Charles right now; the pure lust and want in him is cresting more and more
as Charles works him up.
A quick scissored move from Charles and Erik moans, low and hoarse. “More,” he
pleads. Charles shifts from Erik’s tentative grip, and it feels like a betrayal
- to be so close to his alpha and yet so far away.
Absence greets his demand and just as Erik wants to look down and see what’s
wrong, Charles pushes three fingers in, works more of Erik’s slick over them as
he pulls out and then back in, drawing more and more of the slick out and
around. He feels some across his thighs and bucks his hips to meet Charles’
movements. He needs so much more than he has now and his body reacts as if he
has no higher brain power.
When Erik thinks he can’t wait another minute, he pushes up hard and Charles’
hand stops.
“Please. It’s too much. It’s not enough.” He’s not making sense, he knows, but
his body’s signals are jumbled and dissonant.
Charles’ fingers slip back inside quickly, and then he pulls them out with a
soft pop. Erik wants to whimper - again - but then he feels Charles’ shifting
and then he’s face to face with Charles between his legs. He shifts more to
help Charles settle and lolls his head for a moment to catch his breath and
school his emotions. Charles’ weight against him feels perfect and he stills
himself before Charles’ cock pushes against him.
It’s a slow process for Charles to settle in, but once Charles has bottomed
out, Erik can’t tell up from down, pleasure overtaking everything.
He moans as Charles shifts and nearly comes from one languid push back from
Charles.
“Stay with me,” Charles says before he sets his own pace, leaving Erik to
babble nonsense, moan and whine as he goes.
When he thinks he can’t take anymore, Erik starts to open his mouth only to
feel something change inside. Pressure builds where Charles last pushed and
Charles ruts faster and faster as he comes and knots Erik at the same time.
In the recesses of his mind he knows that being knotted on the first day of
heat is not frequent. He feels proud as he takes Charles’ knot and pushes back
against Charles, needing more and more of Charles’ seed. Just more of Charles.
Period.
He loves the feeling of being filled by Charles, the way that Charles’ hips
work frantically as Charles’ mouth nips and sucks at Erik’s chest, his neck.
Pinpricks of pleasure-pain overwhelm him when he realizes that Charles is
seeking out more and more of Erik. Claiming Erik just as Erik’s body claims
Charles.
He thinks he should do the same, but Charles’ weight shifts too often and
Charles’ movements are so erratic that he can’t find a place to mark his alpha.
Erik tries when Charles is closer to his face, but Charles moves to bite
against the other side Erik’s neck, and Erik wants to say something just before
Charles pushes back harder than before.
Feeling content, he finds Charles’ eyes, and watches Charles rutting into him
with more force. It feels like Charles has been buried deep in him for hours,
but that doesn’t feel like long enough at all.
Erik comes hard and fast when one of Charles’ hands comes back to stroke his
own erection, still red and ready from before. He wonders briefly how he
managed to stay so hard for so long, but forgets the rest of the thought as
Charles continues to stroke him, letting more and more of his semen splash
between them.
All around him, Erik feels some of the pleasure fade.
He’s survived.
*
Charles knows that heats can vary in length from three to seven days, but
watching Erik’s pained expression at the start of day five both hurts him and
fills him with pride and wonder.
They have been separated from everyone else, save for a few maids who have
dropped off food and water along with changes of sheets and other necessary
supplies; Erik’s mother has never been one of them and he desperately hopes
that Mother hasn’t fired the other woman, but there hasn’t been time for him to
check. In their time together, Charles has learned that Erik is partial to
science fiction and action than reality television and soap operas, and that
when Erik isn’t desperate to feed his lust, he’s thoughtful and determined.
Erik’s body has grown used to the spikes in arousal, Charles knows, but still,
Erik’s plaintive voice cries out just as dawn breaks through the windows of
Charles’ room. Erik has warred against the pull of their newly formed bond each
time - both needing to be as close to Charles as possible and also wanting to
deny his own body’s responses to Charles’ pheromones and hormones.
“Shh,” he says to Erik, placing a kiss against Erik’s throat as he pulls at
Erik’s growing erection, this time with lubricant to prevent any lasting
damage. They have been up half the night already, Erik’s body still seeking
more time to be claimed and bonded permanently. It makes Charles think if all
of Erik’s future heats will last this long, or if this is a result of Erik’s
first heat after being around too many incompatible alphas until now.
“Everyone knows,” is all Erik can say in reply before he bucks his hips as
Charles takes some of the slick from Erik’s body to coat his fingers. There’s a
hint of shame in what Erik says, but Charles knows that that is more of Erik’s
warring mind than his resistance to sex.
“That’s not the point right now. Everyone’s still sleeping.” Charles pushes one
finger in, still knowing that Erik’s well prepared, and had been for so long.
Charles wants to offer as much support and encouragement as he can, because
Erik is his now and could be forever. He wants to start their relationship off
with as much equality as possible - he doesn’t want Erik to feel beholden to
him and he doesn’t want to control all of Erik’s movements after this.
Charles still wants to make Erik feel good, however, and so he spends time
kissing everywhere Erik has liked so far: his neck and collarbones, just below
his nipples, at his hip flexors, just at the start of his pubic hair.
All the work leaves Erik wanton and exposed and just as Charles hears Erik’s
voice pitch, Charles settles himself between Erik’s legs and pushes in.
Even now, the feel of Erik around his cock spurs Charles’ body into action.
It’s not just a physical reaction to Erik - his omega - but the idea of being
responsible for and to another person. This is good for each of them; Erik’s
body needing the time to react to Charles’ pheromones and Charles’ body needing
to work as hard to bring another life into the world.
Until now, his life has been lonely - isolated as he and his family are in the
mansion on the outskirts of town. He’s never warmed to most of his peers at
school, but as he rocks back and forth against Erik’s body -pushing deeper and
deeper into Erik - Charles thinks that this - being bonded and mated to another
person - is what might turn his life around.
He knows that not all bondings last - his father died too soon - but there’s
something in Erik’s eyes when they aren’t together that speaks of a deeper
connection. There’s room still for Erik to be unsure, but Charles will come to
that moment if it happens. There may be two more heats to finalize their
relationship or a pregnancy, Charles knows; for now, he wants to live in the
moment, to give Erik the perfect alpha.
“What do you need?” he asks when he’s able, slowing his movements to let the
two of them talk without panting through each word.
“Harder,” is Erik’s reply, and as Charles complies, and rocks harder and
harder, Charles feels Erik’s muscles constrict around him and hears Erik scream
in pleasure. Charles falls just after Erik’s cries, spattering beads and beads
of spunk against their skin, and while Charles doesn’t knot Erik again, he
thinks that this is something special. If Kurt and Mother’s marriage is the
standard Charles has known, then he’ll gladly take everything that separates he
and Erik from them.
*
The pull of his body has subsided - finally! - and Erik’s mind finally tries to
sort itself into order and the new life he has here.
He’s bonded and claimed now - Charles’ seed having filled him for a week and
Charles’ strong bite against his neck the signs that matter to everyone else.
So far, everyone in the house has gathered in one of the many sitting rooms to
discuss further details.
“Erik should live with me,” Charles says, as if it’s as natural as breathing.
His mother gasps, but says nothing. Charles’ stepfather simply glares and
mutters something.
Mamma agreed quickly, though. “It’s important that the newly bonded grow to
know each other. After Jakob found me during my heat, we didn’t leave each
other’s side for weeks. I know it’s awkward, but it’s...” She trails off
because she can and Erik wanted to fight with her, but he thinks she knows
better. Erik has never asked questions about how or when his parents met, but
he remembers their easy and happy smiles at each other before Papa died in a
work accident. Charles’ mother and stepfather continue to let their silence
speak of them, though they look affronted at Erik’s presence beside Charles on
one of the couches.
“All parents should watch their children find their match. Some are grateful of
the bond, while others fight against it, but in the end, it’s the life you two
have that will decide everything else. I saw a bitter fight against my own bond
and I know the damage it can cause.” She all but stares her employers down, and
if her words aren’t clear enough, Charles’ mother coughs and looks at her
expensive watch.
After another few minutes of awkward silence, he walks with Mamma to collect
his meager assortment of clothes and trinkets. There’s still a nervous feeling
at staying in Charles’ room, being a part of Charles’ space, but he tries to
push it aside and follow some of his mother’s words: he can fight the bond or
let it run its course.
Charles’ room is more than big enough for two people, but just as he thinks
about sharing Charles’ bed outside of heat, he thinks that he’s lost a part of
himself. He’s now with someone - someone that will be at his side until one of
them dies. He never imagined that before - though he must have at some point -
because that’s what life was meant to be like. It feels strange, however.
Without his father around, Erik has been trying to protect and look after his
mother, despite her age and status trying to do the same. She’s tried - her job
for the Xaviers the latest measure in a string of unsuccessful jobs - but she
should have had Erik’s help. They could have been a team, working together.
Instead, she’s in the servants’ wing and he’s with the heir to the mansion.
Thinking of her, Erik wonders if he’ll lose all of his independence as the
other half of Charles Xavier, scion of a fortune estimated at over three
billion dollars. There hasn’t been any time for them to exist as a couple
outside of his heat, but the first place he and Charles will be together is at
Charles’ school on Monday. Charles has already warned him that there will be
phones everywhere as they walk in, flashes likely to go off at their arrival.
Gossip, Erik knows, is something that can’t be avoided in high school, and
based on all of Charles’ previous conversations, their school thrives on it.
It raises his hackles that Charles missed school for him, but as he thinks of
their time together, he also feels secure again. Charles has been a generous
partner, asking about Erik’s newly developed preferences and trying to make
their time together easy. That extended outside of sex, when Charles made sure
to know and understand what Erik liked and didn’t like.
Safe is not what he wants. Erik wants independence.
He can’t have that if he’s going to be dependant on Charles’ seed for another
heat, whenever that may be. He’s still not sure if their time together was
successful - per society’s standards - but there are still weeks to go before
there might be any any indications of a pregnancy or of the bond lasting the
minimum length of three heats.
Their room is eerily silent with Charles downstairs catching up on his
homework. It’s odd now, after a week, to miss the sound of Charles’ gentle
laugh and his encouragement. Charles’ touch was firm, but not demanding, and
right now Erik ponders if he’ll ever tire of Charles’ hands against his waist
or the small of his back. If hands clasping together will be something Erik
fears rather than cherishes; even though the gesture is far from intimate
compared to what they have done in their room, it has all the trappings of
being together, being permanent.
Erik tries to shake the thoughts away; he has little use to feel so attached to
Charles so soon. Bonds are meant to develop months after the first coupling,
but Erik’s almost sure that he and Charles have something else.
Something that he wants to scream and fight against, for wanting Charles and
needing Charles - both of those make him weak.
Weak is not what Erik has ever wanted to be, but since his mother accepted this
job, it seems that his life has changed in so many ways.
*
Erik has said that he is no weakling, but Charles wants to say otherwise as he
feels Erik’s arm brushing one of his as they walk, hand in hand, into school.
Mrs. Lehnsherr had made no complaints when Erik moved into Charles’ room - in
fact she was encouraging and sounded pleased - and even though Kurt had yelled
at the idea of Erik going to Charles’ school, Charles would have nothing else.
His bonded would not be denied an education because he wasn’t part of the
Xavier family, yet.
Erik, he has learned, is bright and inquisitive, and will fit right in with
Charles at his school, no matter if Erik’s previous school was not as
academically demanding as Charles’ school. Charles would help Erik out as much
as necessary, though he also knows that Erik wants to maintain his
independence. That feeling of being Erik being his own person, right now, is
secondary, Charles realizes, as the eyes of all the school bore into the two of
them.
There are murmurs and whispers as they climb the stairs and Erik pushes closer
to Charles. Charles resists the urge to hold Erik’s waist, because it seems
bold enough that Erik choose to walk at Charles’ side at all. There are
flashes, as Charles predicted, and they must be making Erik more nervous.
“You’ll do fine,” he whispers and grabs at Erik’s hand. He squeezes and hopes
that Erik will relax into his touch as Erik had done last week. “You’re in all
of my classes - we arranged that - and everyone’s already figured out that
we’re together.”
Erik shoots him an odd look and then Charles says, “My friends filled me in
while we were occupied. They can’t wait to meet you, by the way.”
Erik stops dead and Charles almost tugs Erik’s arm out of its socket before he
catches himself, steeling himself against Erik’s shock. He turns back around
and pushes up just enough to place a kiss to Erik’s cheek. His hand squeezes
again and all Charles hopes is that it will do enough to calm Erik’s mind.
“How’d you find someone, Xavier? Who’s stupid enough to want to be fucked by
such a loser?” Victor Creed asks, the voice carrying so everyone outside can
hear.
Charles ignores everyone and continues to walk towards the doors, and he feels
Erik following him. He’s not sure if Erik truly wants to follow at Charles’
heels, but for now, it’s all that they can do. Victor’s ire has always been a
problem for Charles, and the other boy is one reason why Charles has contented
himself with the library.
In a quiet moment, Charles hopes that he can explain all of the school gossip
to Erik in short order so that their time together here for another year and
some months will not be as painless possible.
*
School with Charles, like everything else with Charles, has been an adjustment.
There’s still a part of Erik’s mind that wants to fight at the way he feels
when he and Charles are alone, but that part has dimmed over the weeks.
They share kisses easily in between classes and outside of Erik’s heat, he’s
found that they are just as attracted to each other as they were under the haze
of amplified pheromones. Sex is not something that they have time for every
day, but Erik’s body is more and more sated with the feel of Charles’ cock
inside him, just as Erik appreciates Charles sucking him dry some mornings.
They fit, and his mind has adjusted to the fact that this is real; he still
worries about his life as a person outside of Charles’ influence, but the days
when he finds his brain going there are fewer and fewer.
But the jeers haven’t stopped now that Charles has been bonded and Erik hears
more than enough about how he must be a horrible omega to have fallen for
Charles; rumors make their way to Erik that no one thought Charles was an alpha
at all or that Charles was infertile. He ignores them as best he can, because
Charles and he are together, but the jokes are worse when they aren’t next to
each other.
Through some odd twist of fate, Erik wasn’t put in Charles’ PE class, though
they are in the same period. It means that he and Charles spent the time
farther away than normal. It also means that everyone who wants to belittle
Charles takes the time to also tease and mock Erik. Without asking, he’s sure
that Charles has similar comments directed at him, but they never mention the
difficulties for being bonded and Charles’ social status at school. One of the
many unspoken rules, Erik supposes.
“So what’s Xavier like in bed? I bet he didn’t even knot you,” some kid says,
just as he tries to take Erik down on their opening lap around the track.
Erik says nothing, pushing harder and harder to run past this idiot, but he’s
not quick enough.
“Didn’t you hear me? What’s Xavier like in bed? I bet he couldn’t get it up for
you, but stayed home so no one would know.”
At that, Erik loses his temper; he punches the kid in the face, as square as he
can against the other boy’s jaw, and then sets to work on landing punches at
ribs and stomach. Erik knows he shouldn’t do that - he’s not the one who should
need protecting - but Erik’s been tired of saying nothing for as long as he’s
been on campus. He never told Charles about the emails that flood into Erik’s
inbox, or the way that his PE class constantly belittled them because Charles
seems to pay attention to the jeers of people who make of him.
Their PE teacher arrives, almost too late, Erik thinks when he finally looks at
the boy who decided to deride Charles’ prowess as an alpha. The boy’s face is
bruised and there’s blood splattered over his shirt. Erik knows that Charles
doesn’t have the standard look or attitude of most alphas, but in his own way,
Charles is exactly what Erik needs. Erik needs someone to quiet his rage and
someone to show him that kindness can be given freely and not be earned.
But he also knows that Charles abhors violence and will hate Erik for having
resorted to punching this nobody for Charles’ honor. In no time at all, Erik
sees Charles’ long face as Erik waits for his mother to arrive.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Charles says when he sits next to Erik at the
principal’s office.
“I did. It wouldn’t stop until one of us did something.” It’s a weak excuse,
but it’s the only thing he’s been able to understand in the month he’s been
here.
Charles gives him a look that says there might be another way before saying, “I
think there’s something we can do.”
Erik feels his hand being pulled away from his body, as Charles leads him into
one of the boys’ restrooms. Inside, Charles examines underneath the stalls and
then pushes Erik against one of the metal walls. “You could have hurt
yourself,” Charles says before he starts to suck against Erik’s neck.
“But you don’t mind it, do you?” Erik asks, breaths hitching at Charles’
possessive display. He tries to move his hands against Charles’ flanks and
moans when Charles bites down particularly hard against his neck. “Everyone’s
going to hear us,” Erik says, though he knows it sounds ragged and strained
after Charles’ ministrations.
“That’s exactly the point,” Charles manages to say before he moves his hands
from Erik’s shoulders to Erik’s pants, unzipping his jeans and palming at
Erik’s growing hardness.
Erik’s brain stops producing rational thought then, his own arousal growing at
Charles’ ministrations. He’s aware enough to feel Charles’ own erection against
his, and their thrusts are fast and frenzied, but exactly what Erik wants right
now.
He cannot control his moans and screams as Charles takes him hard and fast, and
when they come out of the bathroom later, the principal and Mamma are right
outside the door. The principal looks like he wants to murder both he and
Charles while a few students are lurking around looking for confirmation of
what just happened. The principal walks them back to his office and Mamma sits
in front of the door, sighing as she looks over he and Charles before adjusts
Erik’s collar. She looks as though she understands, but Erik certainly doesn’t
want to ask how or why.
*
With school out for the summer, Charles has all the time to start to memorize
Erik’s habits. He knows from experience, that Erik hates brussel sprouts,
prefers explosive actions films to the classics, runs when feeling stressed and
wakes up far too early.
But for the last two weeks, Erik’s been slower to get up in the morning; Erik’s
more content to nestle against Charles’ embrace in sleep than before. Erik’s
also spending longer in the bathroom, taking longer and longer showers. Erik’s
runs are less frequent than they were during the school year, even though there
is more than enough time for them.
Charles can’t say that he minds that Erik’s less focused, but it is different
all the same.
Beyond those things, Charles notices that Erik stays closer to Charles all day
long. As if there’s some other pull that binds them. Legally they aren’t
married, and won’t be until they get through either three heats or a pregnancy,
but that means little to Charles most days. Erik is an Xavier, even if not
legally so, and the household staff knows that just as well as the school staff
does.
Today, Charles wants to spend his time looking at the beginning of his AP Lit
homework, and the library is the best place to look at some of the books on the
recommended AP reading list.
Erik’s sitting near Charles, and reading his own book for the assignment,
though he seems more restless than normal.
“Something wrong?” Charles asks and just after he does, his mind catches
something else in Erik’s own pheromones and hormones; the scent that Erik gives
off is different than it was just as school let out, but only by a little.
He waits for Erik to say something, though no response comes. It takes Charles
another few minutes to think about when Erik arrived and that Erik should have
had another heat in the coming weeks. There’s nothing in Charles’ brain that
can sense that Erik’s anywhere near having another heat.
“Shouldn’t you have your heat soon?” Charles asks, hoping that Erik will
answer.
In reply, Erik shrugs.
“Will you come here? I want to see something.” Charles hopes that Erik will
comply and sit atop him in the armchair. Erik does, and as soon as Erik is near
Charles, everything is clear. The scent, now that he can take it in more
closely, is not the scent that omegas have before a heat, but the scent as
their body starts to ready for the life inside.
“I think there’s something you and I need to discuss.”
*
Erik hates to admit that Charles was the first one to know that they were to
expect a child. He should have known his body well enough to know when to
expect his next heat, but he had spent so much time fighting against everything
he had with Charles that he didn’t pay attention. That was before he admitted
that everything was fine and relished in the way that Charles cared for him,
but he will never admit that to Charles.
Now, he has nothing to do but pay attention. Charles does the same, all but
turning the house upside down to make sure Erik has everything he needs to make
sure that the pregnancy goes without a hitch.
Now the house is constantly filled with fresh food, which the cooks have all
been ordered to prepare exactly as Erik likes. Mama smiles at him every time
she sees him and Erik thinks that he should talk to her about what to expect in
the coming months. He certainly isn’t going to ask Charles’ mother, who still
refuses to acknowledge him on most days. He never had that conversation just
after heat about her easy acceptance, but he thinks now that he’s been around
Charles that it makes sense; there must be an unspoken rule among omega parents
to let nature play out as it wants. Even though he hasn’t seen her often in the
last five months, he knows that she will want to help him through everything,
especially now. There’s a difference between female and male omegas, to be
sure, but there have to be similarities.
On the days when the baby is quiet in his womb, Erik enjoys the way that
Charles looks at him. Charles has always been attentive, and it has only
intensified. Charles almost never leaves Erik’s side, and when appropriate,
Charles holds Erik’s hand or rubs Erik’s growing stomach.
Now that they have a child on the way, Erik’s attitudes about their initial
coupling have changed. He had long since accepted that sex with Charles wasn’t
half bad, but now that there’s proof of their bonding being successful, he
finds he can’t hate what happened to him. Charles doesn’t treat Erik as
something inferior because he is carrying their child, and if anything, Charles
has changed his whole life upside-down to make sure Erik is comfortable.
On the days when Erik can’t force himself to leave their room, Charles brings
Erik a laptop and all the summer work he’s meant to finish. Charles sits at his
side and does his work, and it feels peaceful.
When vacation’s nearly over, Charles calls the school to make arrangements for
changes in Erik’s schedule. Erik wants to protest, but Charles simply gives him
a look that says, ‘you will not endanger our child’ and Erik stops dead. Erik
knows he could have done that for himself, but to watch Charles’ protective
streak is to know that things will be good.
It’s harder for Erik to focus at school, though, and Erik hates when Charles’
focus on his studies suffers because Erik can’t find the energy to stay awake
when they get home.
One positive to the pregnancy, Erik finds, is that the rumors of Charles being
a poor alpha stop dead in their tracks. No one can question Charles’ prowess
when he was able to get Erik pregnant on their first heat. But that doesn’t
mean that the school warms to either of them. They mostly keep to themselves,
and the small group of Charles’ friends - Moira, Hank and Armando.
The whole group organizes a tiny baby shower during lunch just before winter
vacation, weeks before Erik’s due date.
He almost can’t sit through the whole period - the baby so insistent these days
- but he smiles as best he can and accepts the series of green and yellow
onesies and rattles.
After that display, the last few days of class are painful, not just because
the baby kicks at least five times during some classes, but because Erik
realizes that he’s going to be forced into home schooling in order to graduate
at all. He can’t keep the baby at school, he knows, but Charles has also said
that there is no question about not graduating.
Erik thinks, just as the baby kicks again, if Charles’ optimism will be
something their child has.
Part of him hopes so.
*
It’s just before the Marko winter party, and Charles watches Erik carefully.
The last few days have been difficult for Erik: his body taking more and more
of their baby’s kicks. Just before Charles is to meet everyone else at the
party, Erik screams, his face contorting in pain. He curls around himself,
holding his rounded belly as he does and tries to say something through his
screaming.
This scream is different from everything else they have been through so far,
and Charles throws off his jacket and runs back towards the bed. The staff is
all preparing for the party and Charles knows better than to try and find Mrs.
Lehnsherr - and face Mother’s wrath - even if Erik would want it more than
anything.
“What’s wrong?” he demands, watching as Erik’s face is caught in a pinched
expression.
“Time,” is all Erik says when he can open his mouth without pain twisting his
face.
From that moment on, Charles goes into a frenzy. Erik’s bag has been ready for
days, for moment like this, but Charles needs to grab a few things for himself:
a book if the labor is long, a change of clothes and all of Erik’s medical
information. It takes him no time at all to gather those, and as he busies
himself, Erik’s voice pitches and falls.
“Do you need to wait before we go downstairs? Or do I need to call an
ambulance?” They hadn’t talked about anything like this happening, but he
doesn’t want to do anything against Erik’s wishes.
“I can do it,” Erik says, voice still slightly pained. Charles walks with him
slowly down the stairs and towards the back of the house and any of the
family’s myriad cars. No one notices them, and for that Charles is glad. He’ll
call when things are settled, especially since there’s no reason to interrupt
the party.
Erik’s quick to enter Charles’ car and settles as quickly as he can through his
discomfort.
The drive flies by, and it’s only when Charles is standing with Erik at the
entrance does he remember they never called to warn Erik’s doctor.
That point doesn’t seem to matter as the staff hurries them up to the maternity
ward as soon as Charles says his name.
From there, it’s a flurry of paperwork and questions for Charles as Erik is off
in a private room being looked over. Charles dislikes being away from Erik at
this moment, but he knows that it’s what needs to be done.
He waits outside, unsure if Erik wants him near him during the birth.
“Is Erik alright?” he asks one nurse who comes out of Erik’s room. She has a
neutral expression, but she answers as politely as possible.
“He wants you in the room. The doctor’s on her way.”
Once he’s in Erik’s room, activity surrounds him: nurses making sure that
Erik’s as comfortable as possible and then the doctor arrives.
“Quite a New Year’s surprise,” the doctor says before she checks Erik’s vitals
and progress. “We’ll get Erik down into a proper room in a few minutes and
then, Charles, you’re welcome to watch from the outside.”
Charles nods and sees that Erik looks worried. “You’ll be fine, and I’ll be
watching from outside.”
There’s still worry all over Erik’s face and Charles does all he can do: press
gentle kisses against Erik’s sweaty cheek and forehead.
From there, Charles watches Erik leave with the help of a few other nurses and
follows them towards the waiting room above the delivery room. It’s almost a
mercy that there’s no microphone in the room because Erik’s face looks so
pained that Charles winces in sympathy.
It feels like hours later before everything Charles watches settles down and as
soon as nearly everyone leaves the room, Charles sees Erik holding a tiny
little bundle.
He sprints back to Erik’s previous room and waits. Minutes pass by and Erik
still hasn’t returned. When he does, though, the small bundle in Erik’s arms is
holding onto one of Erik’s fingers.
“It’s--” Charles starts.
“She’s wonderful,” Erik says. “We didn’t talk about names.”
Charles nods. “We didn’t, but it’s your choice, dear.”
Erik looks down at their daughter and says quietly: “Anya.”
“That sounds perfect,” is all Charles says before he moves a chair closer to
Erik’s wheelchair. Anya’s eyes open and as she looks at Charles, Charles knows
that everything will be fine.
Outside, the sounds of the New Year ringing in can be heard: poppers down the
hall in a non-sterile room, noise makers from the nurses’ station. What a
wonderful start to a year, Charles thinks just as Anya tries to grab one of his
fingers.
 
*
Anya gurgles from beside Erik’s desk. At least she’s quiet today as he’s trying
to work on his homework. Two days before, she cried all day long, as if she
could tell that Charles wasn’t home.
Still, it’s hard to study and take care of her, but he knows that Charles had
already pulled so many strings to keep Erik on pace to graduate with everyone
at school in the spring. The fact that Charles can be home with them two days a
week is still a miracle to Erik.
Instead of focusing on all of the logistics of their schooling now, Erik tries
to pay attention to the reading for his economics class. Without any teachers,
school is harder than Erik wants, but he also knows that he can ask Charles
when the school day is done.
There are still four hours until Charles will be home, but with Anya sleeping,
Erik takes a moment to take a nap with her.
He moves from his desk to their bed with Anya next to him and settles in for a
power nap.
A gentle move of his shoulder wakes him, and he looks up to see Charles’ face.
He wants to say something, but he can’t find the words.
“I took care of Anya’s diaper when I saw her fussing next to you. You needed
the sleep.”
Erik knows Charles is right; last night had been the first time he and Charles
had had sex since Anya’s birth, and while the night was outside of Erik’s heat,
Erik knows that his next few heats will be less intense than his first.
Biology’s natural response to a baby is to keep another one from coming too
soon and while Erik longs for another spike in his lust and need for Charles,
he’ll take whatever they can get until then.
He realizes now just how much he loves Charles and Anya. He wants to say it
aloud, but his mouth is stopped from anything other than Charles’ lips against
his.
Erik pulls away first and says, “Missed you.”
“And I you,” Charles says before he kisses Erik again. The kisses are
insistent, and Erik feels his cock press against his pants.
“We can’t,” is all he can say, just as Charles moves to his neck.
Charles whines a bit, but pulls away. “You’re right.”
Erik tries to settle himself into a sitting position. “I am, and I need your
help.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Economics.”
Charles walks to find the economics book and comes back to Erik’s side.
“So what was frustrating you?”
Erik sighs and starts to explain, just before he hopes that Anya’s sleeping
again.
*
There are still three days until graduation and everything from the last year
finally starts to catch up with Charles.
Just as he was watching Erik and Anya, there were college applications to
finish off for both of them - thankfully there were bonded-pair applications
available for all of Charles’ choices. NYU hadn’t been Charles’ first choice,
but when he had asked Erik about their choices, Erik wanted to stay close to
home when acceptances came in.
There is still the trouble of convincing Sharon to pay for an apartment.
Charles knows that the student housing at NYU for bonded pairs with children
are cramped, with minimal privacy. He’s been avoiding the conversation for
weeks, because he’s been enjoying watching Anya grow and Erik being more and
more comfortable with her.
Charles can’t walk away from the conversation now, because he knows that Erik
wants his mother to move into the city with them. Unlike this last semester,
there’s no way for Erik can miss going to classes because he needs to stay with
Anya and they agree that putting her into childcare is too soon.
Edie had volunteered already and that means that not only will Charles need
some of the family money for the apartment big enough for all of them, but also
that Edie will be leaving the house.
So close to the end of school, Charles hopes that Mother will be in a good mood
and that this will take no time at all. Surprisingly, Mother agrees to the
stipend and letting Edie go, and Charles says nothing that might change her
mind.
With that one stress over, Charles focuses on getting through the last days of
school. Erik’s been allowed on campus with Anya to get through the rehearsals
for the ceremony. Being with the two of them at school makes Charles feel
elated. Without Erik on campus all this semester, and with everyone knowing
that Erik had had their baby, things had been different. Creed and his ilk said
nothing about Charles’ virility, but to be standing next to Erik has silenced
everything else that might have been said.
Charles squeezes Erik’s hand and then kisses the top of Anya’s beanie before
they settle into two seats to hear all about the order of the ceremony.
Anya starts to fuss in her baby bjorn, and Erik tries to bounce up and down in
his seat for her. “She’ll be fine in a minute,” Erik says.
Charles doesn’t mind if she fusses the rest of the day. He’s just glad that
they will be able to walk across the stage and graduate.
For a relationship that Charles never imagined having, he wants nothing more
than to see the two of them succeed in anything that they do. Together, he’s
sure that they can take on the world and change everything that tries to beat
them down.
End Notes
     Thanks to both kageillusionz and subtillor for the beta help on this.
     Any remaining mistakes are mine alone.
     Title nicked from a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club song "Weight of the
     World".
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