3am
Title: 3am
Fandom: X-Men
Pairing: Charles / Erik
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1330
Summary:
Sam wrote a Cherik thing!!! So, I saw this prompt post on tumblr and just knew I had to Cherik the first prompt on the list. So, the prompt goes..
"your girlfriend decided to kick you out at 3 am and I tripped over your boxes of shit in the hallway in my drunken trip to my apartment now I’m half passed out in a pile of your clothes au"
…I changed it a tiny bit. Hopefully it isn’t too big a mess seeing as I wrote it while falling asleep last night… but it was just too good of a plot bunny, not to write.
“I can’t take it anymore!” yelled a muffled but obviously female, obviously enraged voice from down the hall.
Erik paused in his meandering saunter to listen, leaning his shoulder against the hallway wall for support.
“Ra… You can’t possibly…. serious ab… It’s three in the morning and you… streets? We’re f…” came a masculine voice through the wall, not as loud nor as manic as the other. Erik couldn’t catch all the words.
“Shut up, Charles!” snapped the female. “You can’t keep trying to run my life! You’re out! I’m done!”
That was when the door two down from where Erik was dizzily leaning against the wall suddenly opened. The young woman the voice belonged to strode into the hallway carrying a stack of boxes in her arms. Dropping them she exclaimed “I won’t put up with this any longer!” before going right back into the apartment.
“I told you it would come to this,” she said from inside just as the door fell back shut, muffling the argument again.
Erik closed his eyes, feeling a tad woozy from the amount of alcohol sloshing through his system. When he opened them again, the pile of things in the hallway had grown substantially. The young woman was still bringing more items out to throw on the pile, but now there was a young man standing in the hallway with pursed lips. He was in pajamas, a bath robe, and slippers. Erik stared at him in dim recognition for a few moment before being able to place him as that cute guy with the blue eyes Erik sometimes saw in hall or the elevator from time to time- figures he’d be straight.
“Raven,” said Blue Eyes in a gentle tone, as if trying to sooth a wild animal -it only seemed to make her more angry, though. “I know you have always had a flair for the dramatic but this is taking it rather far, don't you think?”
"You never take me seriously,” she snapped before throwing a large brown suitcase into the hall.
The couple continued to argue while the fiery woman threw more and more items into the hallway. Soon it became apparent to Erik even in his inebriated state that he had been watching the scene far too long for what was socially acceptable. Also, and much more importantly, his bladder was incredibly full. With some wobbling, Erik pushed away from the wall and walked toward the ugly scene meaning to pass them and go to his apartment at the end of the hall.
As Erik neared them, the woman brought out an armful of books. Blue Eyes had to duck from a few hardcover books that she decided to throw to punctuate her latest complaint about him. Erik would have to pass them quickly or be knocked further into oblivion by those terribly heavy looking text books. They were so caught up in their quarrel that they hadn’t noticed him approach until he managed to trip over a stray box when he tried to silently pass the scene. He fell over and landed right on his ass.
“Ouch,” groaned Erik though he was more occupied with how the room was spinning than the sudden pain in his ass.
“Oh,” breathed Blue Eyes, blinking in surprise down at Erik.
Erik blinked right back up at him. Finally, after plenty of mutual blinking, Blue Eyes reached to offer Erik a hand up. Erik stared at his offered hand blankly for a few beats before realizing he should take it. When he was back on his feet -wobbly though he was, he began to move past the young man in bathrobe and tousled hair to continue his journey back to his apartment.
"I’m Charles,” said Blue Eyes making Erik pause, “I’m really sorry for the mess… and the scene.”
“And another thing,” shouted the young woman as she reappeared in the doorway. She stopped when she noticed Erik. “Oh,” she said, the fight going out of her momentarily.
“Hi,” said Erik, stupidly.
She frowned at him for a moment before turning back to Blu- Charles.
“Don’t try to come back in, Charles,” she said. “I mean it, this is it. I’m done living with you.”
and, with that, she slammed the door shut. Erik and Charles stared at the closed door while the tell-tale sounds of her locking the deadbolt and chain sounded from the other side. After a few moments, they turned to each other.
“Uh,” said Erik, while Charles simply smiled an embarrassed grimace-smile. Erik looked Charles up and down in his pajamas and slippers, his sleep-tousled hair and bathrobe and it dawned on him... “You need somewhere to sleep,” started Erik at the realization.
“Yes, well,” answered Charles, pausing to chew nervously on his bottom lip. “Um, I wouldn’t want to impose,” he finished, lamely, but his big, blue eyes looked painfully hopeful.
“Help me find my apartment and you can have my couch,” decided Erik, trying for a grin but having no idea what his face was doing. Those last three beers had probably been three too many. “We can get your shit after,” continued Erik when Charles started looking down at the mess of his things with concern, “I really gotta piss.”
Charles let out a slightly hysterical laugh at that.
“Alright, my friend,” he said, patting Erik on the shoulder which only made Erik feel more dizzy. “What’s your apartment number?”
Erik dug his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Charles.
“14,” he said.
They walked down the hall together, Erik being steadied by Charles’ hand on his shoulder twice. When they reached the door, Charles unlocked it with Erik’s keys and Erik hurried in to pee shouting a slurred “make yourself at home” over his shoulder.
When he returned from the bathroom, a small, neat pile of boxes had already started to grow against the wall in his dining room. Charles walked in the door at that moment.
“You cheat on your girlfriend?” asked Erik.
“No,” said Charles, “I don’t cheat and she’s not my girlfriend.”
“Hmm,” hummed Erik making to follow Charles back out the door to help get the rest of his things.
“Actually,” said Charles, stopping him, “thank you, but you should probably just go lay down. Truthfully, I’m surprised how you’re even standing.”
“Yeah,” agreed Erik, easily. “I’m a little drunk.”
Charles snorted indelicately at that, though not unkindly. He grinned at Erik and shook his head before leaving the apartment to get more of his things. Erik sat down heavily on a chair in his dining room and contemplated getting a drink of water. Ultimately, it seemed like more effort than it was worth.
“Raven is my sister,” said Charles when he returned with a few more things. “She has a bit of a temper. I’m sure she’ll let me back in come morning, though perhaps it is time I find my own place.”
Erik made a noise of acknowledgment, but he was suddenly feeling incredibly tired and the wooziness from the hallway was back with a vengeance.
“It’s my fault, really,” said Charles a few minutes later with another armful of items. “I do have a tendency to be overbearing. I just want the best for her, though. She’s my little sister after all.”
Erik hummed in reply before laying his head down on the table.
“…really appreciate you taking me in,” Charles was saying when Erik opened his eyes again. He was seated in the chair across from Erik and pushing a glass of water across the table to him. “Hopefully you’ll remember that you did when you wake up in the morning, and don’t simply think me a burglar.”
“Not a burglar,” said Erik, nodding against the table. “Cute guy with the blue eyes.”
Charles chuckled.
“Well, I'll take that as a compliment,” he said, warmly. “I’m also gay... and single.”
Erik grinned into the table, he definitely wouldn’t forget that come morning.
Also posted here and here